


Definitely a Dragon

by glissandos



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Brief Threats of Violence, Dragons, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Neighbors, Romance, Some Humor, Strangers to Lovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but nobody is hurt, most of this is just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26296933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glissandos/pseuds/glissandos
Summary: “You have a pet dragon.” Minho boldly declares, searching his new neighbor’s face for a reaction.“Oh wow, I wish,” Jisung laughs. “Could you imagine? That would be so cool!” Minho has to give him credit—Jisung doesn’t even bat an eye before smoothly responding.“Okay,” Minho says, drawing his next words out in eager anticipation. “Then what exactly is splashing around in your backyard pool?”(Minho is intrigued by his new neighbor. He doesn’t expect his curiosity to rope him into the daunting task of dragon-sitting, and he certainly doesn’t expect to fall for both his neighbor and the dragon along the way.)
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 114
Kudos: 582





	1. Chapter 1

It’s not like Minho meant to spy. 

That morning, he had been halfway out the door to get in his car and drive to work, but then… that _thing_ pulled up.

Maybe he’s exaggerating a little. But the grey van that just parked in his neighbor’s driveway has black drapes drawn over the backseat windows and even in its rear dashboard (which Minho’s pretty sure is illegal). Except for the front seats, Minho can’t see anything inside, and the sight is quite a shady one to behold, in multiple senses of the word.

So maybe he quietly closes the door and hovers by the side of the garage in the entryway, peering out and hoping he isn’t spotted because well _that_ would be embarrassing. 

A man exits the driver’s seat, letting the car door fall shut behind him, and Minho wonders if this is the new neighbor. From here he can’t make out all the details, except for the fact that the guy looks kind of short and that his attire is pretty much the opposite of his car since he sports a white t-shirt and shiny blue basketball shorts. He rummages around his pocket for what are presumably keys before heading up to the front door and unlocking it.

Minho feels a little less sketched out by this. Maybe there’s a logical reason why the guy is so secretive about what’s inside his car. And Minho isn’t in any place to judge. 

Also, he doesn’t have the time to; he has to get to work. 

After the man disappears into the neighboring house, Minho quietly ducks into his car and speeds away.

\---

The van is sometimes gone, but when it stays parked in the neighboring driveway for multiple days in a row, he concludes that this is indeed his new neighbor. And by the looks of it, it’s just that one guy and his van, since Minho hasn’t seen anybody else enter the house.

But regardless of however his new neighbor decorates his van, Minho likes to make good impressions.

He gives them a week; he thinks that’ll be enough time for them to have settled in. He bakes some muffins—with substitutions for milk, because last time he had the embarrassment of showing up to new neighbors with pastries only to be asked about the ingredients in his food and found out on-the-spot that one of the children had dairy allergies. (He’d like to start off on better terms this time, at least.) 

And now he is here.

 _Ding-dong._ Minho waits on the doorstep with a plate full of blueberry muffins in hand. He hears footsteps followed by a crash loud enough that it makes him wince outside. 

The door swings open to reveal the owner of the van and now also the house: a young man with a tentative smile… and fluffy black hair that is wildly sticking up all over the place—really, Minho is starting to wonder about the events that transpired inside for the very short time he was waiting at the door. 

“Uh… hello, how can I help you?” the man asks, eyes curiously darting across Minho’s face.

“Hi,” Minho puts on a smile, raising his plate higher so it’s in view. “I’m Lee Minho, your new next-door neighbor.” He points a thumb toward his house on the right.

“Oh!” The man exclaims. Inside the house, Minho hears another crash. This time, both of them flinch. “Uh, sorry about that,” the guy sheepishly says, reaching up a hand to rub the back of his neck. “You know how pets are sometimes." His sticks his other hand out. "I’m Han Jisung—nice to meet you.” 

Minho shakes the proffered hand, and decides that stranger things have happened. 

“Big dog?” he asks. He hadn’t ever seen Jisung with a dog or heard any barking recently, but the sounds inside suggest otherwise.

“Uh… yeah!” Jisung says, but he sounds rushed. His fingers are tapping on the edge of the open door like he’s anxious about something. “I’m really sorry, but if you couldn’t tell, now’s not the best time. Lir”—Minho assumes that’s the name of the dog—“isn’t in a good mood,” Jisung grimaces, taking the plate from Minho’s hands and gives him a small smile. “Thank you so much though, these smell really good.”

Minho hears something pounding around and almost feels the slightest of vibrations under his own feet. _Really_ big dog, he thinks. “That’s okay, feel free to ask me if you have any questions! I’ve been living here for a couple years so I like to think I know this area pretty well.” 

“Sure,” Jisung says. “Actually, that would be great. I’ll probably take you up on that offer,” he continues. 

“Cool,” Minho says. “Well, you know where to find me if you do.” He laughs, then has a thought. “Hey, anyone else moving in with you?” 

“Nope, just me and my… dog. See you around, Minho!” Jisung says, grinning. The door closes and Minho hears more indistinguishable loud noises inside the house before he walks away.

 _And that,_ Minho thinks, _is why I prefer cats._

\---

One evening, Minho opens the door to Jisung nervously standing outside, wringing his hands. He looks a lot more… put-together… than their last meeting, though—his hair isn’t flying everywhere and he also looks fairly dressed up tonight, dark jeans in lieu of the loose shorts he had answered the door in last time. He looks _good,_ Minho laments, and tells himself that it’s only because this is the first time he’s had a neighbor that looks like he’s anywhere in the vicinity of Minho’s age.

“What’s up?” Minho asks kindly. 

“Erm… my dog might have broken your muffin plate,” Jisung says, looking almost comically apologetic. “The muffins tasted good though! Ah, I’m really sorry.” 

“Oh—that’s it?” Minho laughs—it’s funny because Jisung looks like the real kicked puppy and he wonders why he was even so suspicious of Jisung in the first place. “It’s okay, I have lots of other plates anyway.”

“Well… I was also going to ask if you know any open fields around here?” Jisung asks, brightening when Minho seems to brush the accident off. “I looked on Google Maps and it said there was a park nearby but when I got there I saw a lot of trees.”

“Hmmm,” Minho thinks. At the time, he doesn’t question it—assumes it’s for Jisung to play fetch with his dog, or something. “I think… hold on, do you have your phone so I can use the maps as reference?”

Minho ends up directing Jisung to a place situated on the outskirts of the neighborhood—just old farmland that has now been run over by grass and weeds. Jisung thanks him profusely and departs with a wave. And that’s that. 

\---

Minho gets the shock of his life on a Sunday afternoon mid-March, almost two weeks after Jisung had come by asking where he could find any open fields. 

He really doesn’t mean to stumble across this. It sort of just… happens. 

Minho had gone outside to wheel out his garbage cans to the front of the house so the truck could come by and pick them up. As he’s locking the side gate back up, though, Minho hears a loud splash. And not just a loud splash, a _tremendously_ big and loud splash. Minho swears a few drops of water even fly over the fence to land in his hair . 

So… he gets a bit curious. He knows the house next door has a pool—the old neighbors had kids that would obnoxiously scream and jump around in it all throughout the summer. And Jisung doesn’t strike him as the type of person to just be… splashing around in the pool by himself. Maybe it’s the dog. 

He finds himself peeking through a crack between two fence boards. 

… And immediately jerks back, wide-eyed. 

There is a fucking _dragon_ in Jisung’s pool. 

Minho peeks between the boards again. The creature in the pool is still there, and it is unmistakably a dragon. It has the general shape of a lizard—only many times larger—and magnificent blue wings attached to its back.

Minho’s read his fair share of fantasy books when he was young, but the sight in front of him should be just that—a fantasy, not real life. 

Contrary to all the fantasy stories, the dragon isn’t enormous, though it’s still bigger than any non-fantastical housepets Minho’s seen in the neighborhood—maybe about the size of a large horse. It has pearly deep blue scales that shine from the water and glimmer in the sunlight. With one sweep of its front claws, the dragon stirs up a huge wave of water, and droplets flying everywhere again. This dragon must _really_ like the water, Minho thinks.

He finds himself staring for a moment, entranced by the way the dragon’s sweeping wings sway gently with its movements as it hops and splashes around in the pool. 

Then the dragon snorts out a puff of mist and opens its mouth in a huge grin—revealing teeth the length of Minho’s fingers with tips sharpened like knives.

Minho backs away from the fence again. 

He’s going to need a bit of time to digest this.

\---

He thinks about throughout the day and then as he’s laying in bed that night, and then after he comes home from work the next day—especially because he hears the dragon causing a big ruckus in the pool again.

And then he thinks about the entire situation some more and grows even more curious—he’s come to terms with there being a whole _actual_ dragon but he’s wondering why his neighbor isn’t trying harder to hide it. 

Well, he’s now pretty certain that Jisung was trying to hide an entire dragon in the back of his van, and he’s surprised that the creature even fit inside. Maybe Jisung removed the backseats, he thinks.

But… why is Jisung no longer trying to keep the dragon such a big secret?

Minho’s desire to understand what’s going on gets the best of him.

Though—in hindsight—maybe this wasn’t the best idea.

He rings the doorbell and takes a deep breath when Jisung opens the door. 

“Hey, Minho!” Jisung says, greeting him cheerfully like all is right in the world.

Minho cuts to the chase. 

“You have a pet dragon.” He boldly declares, searching his new neighbor’s face for a reaction.

Nothing.

“Oh wow, I wish,” Jisung laughs. “Could you imagine? That would be _so_ cool!” Minho has to give him credit—Jisung doesn’t even bat an eye before smoothly responding as a normal person might.

“Okay,” Minho says, drawing his next words out in eager anticipation. “So _what exactly_ is splashing around in your backyard pool, then?”

And _that_ gets a reaction. 

_Gotcha,_ Minho thinks victoriously, savouring the way Jisung’s eyes widen almost imperceptibly and his mouth freezes trying to form an answer.

Then, with a force Minho didn’t know his neighbor had in him, Minho is pulled through the doorway into Jisung’s house. The door is shut behind them.

“What did you see?” Jisung hisses at him, pupils now blown almost comically wide. 

“A dragon,” Minho simply repeats.

 _This is going to be fun,_ he thinks. It’s probably the most excitement he’s had in the three years since he graduated. 

Jisung scans Minho’s face. Apparently he determines something from it, and he sags, removing his hands from where they were tightly gripping Minho’s arms. 

“You can really see him?” Jisung asks. 

“Uh, yeah. Also the splashing is pretty loud. I’m surprised your other neighbors haven’t noticed,” Minho remarks. 

“That’s because you’re not supposed to be able to see or hear the _dragon_ ,” Jisung grits out. “Okay. Okay, this is fine, maybe it’s even a good thing. I can deal with this.”

“What do you mean, _deal with this?”_ Minho asks, suddenly scared. “I’ll call 911 if you try anything!” he shouts. 

Jisung laughs darkly. “The police wouldn’t stand a chance against Lir,” he says. 

Minho doesn’t laugh with him. He gulps instead. _Oh god—_ he didn’t think this through. And the door is now closed, he realizes. At least he’s pretty sure he could beat Jisung in a fight.

“I wouldn’t do anything though,” Jisung tells him, shooting him a suspiciously bright smile. Minho does _not_ feel relieved. And now he’s starting to sweat because if Jisung has a dragon then it’s not entirely impossible that he has otherworldly tricks up his sleeve as well.

_Fuck._

Jisung does exactly that. Minho doesn’t know how, but he sees Jisung furrowing his eyebrows. Not in confusion, but in _concentration_.

Then it feels like something hits his brain from the inside.

 _You’re a liar,_ is the last thing he pettily thinks before he lands in… Jisung’s arms. Figures the guy would knock him out and finish it off by catching him—so nice of Jisung to do that.

And then before Minho can have his last words as a witty remark, everything goes blank.

He wakes up in his bed feeling like he’s missing something—he can remember teaching the kids the start of a new choreo and then making himself dinner back home, but then what?

But per routine he makes breakfast, drives to the dance studio to teach, immerses himself in his job, and forgets about it.

\---

Then he remembers it.

The thing is… Minho is outside a few days later when he hears splashing. 

He peers between the cracks of the fence and sees a _dragon._ That comes as a complete surprise, except there is a nagging sense of déjà vu and then everything comes rushing back to him.

Five minutes later he is standing on Jisung’s doorstep yet again.

“You,” he says, jabbing a finger at Jisung’s chest “have a pet dragon.” 

Wait—this didn’t work out last time. Oh _shit,_ Minho needs to stop what he’s doing and leave right now. He should have just kept his mouth shut. Or maybe he should threaten to call the police again as a bargaining chip. 

Jisung just looks at him in disbelief. “You can _still_ see Lir?” he asks. 

And Minho had thought Lir was the name of Jisung’s _dog._ Now he knows better. 

“Yeah,” Minho says, panicking. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._ At least he hasn’t been dragged into the house yet. “Please don’t wipe my memory this time. And please don’t try anything weird. I just wanted to tell you that. In case your other neighbors might be able to see the dragon too. And uh, I’ll get out of your way now.”

Minho practically sprints back to his house, and he hears Jisung shouting something after him, but he’s already too far away to hear what he’s saying.

He adds a new bullet point to his routine: avoid Jisung and his house at all costs. 

\---

… and that’s harder than it should be because—oh, right—Jisung is his new neighbor. Their houses are adjacent to each other. Confrontation is inevitable if said neighbor tries hard enough.

Just the evening after, the doorbell rings. The peephole tells him that it is indeed Jisung, so Minho tiptoes away from the door and quietly sits back down at the table, determined not to answer the door. His bowl of chicken and rice stares back at him as he waits for the sound of receding footsteps.

“I know you’re in there!” Jisung calls. “Your car is literally parked in the driveway!”

 _I could be out on a walk,_ Minho thinks childishly. Not that he really goes on walks. 

“I’m not going to do anything bad!” Jisung says. “Please?”

 _Yeah, but, last time you said you weren’t going to do anything and then you knocked me unconscious and erased part of my memory. Forgive me for being cautious,_ Minho thinks to himself.

( _Please leave,_ he thinks. _Please leave me alone._ )

“I’m not going to leave until you open the door,” Jisung says. 

The audacity! Well, Minho thinks, two can play at that game. The soonest Minho has to leave his house is the next morning. There’s no way Jisung would stake out his house overnight.

Jisung is still there in the morning. Sitting on the doorstep, now. 

Minho’s not sure if the guy left and came back super early, or if he camped out overnight on Minho’s doorstep or something. If that’s the case, color Minho just a bit impressed—though still quite terrified.

He contemplates calling in sick for work, but he ultimately doesn’t do it because

  1. He would feel bad making Hyunjin substitute in for him because both of them already have full teaching schedules as is. And he likes the kids. 
  2. That’s it. (Minho should have parked his car in the garage. Then he wouldn’t have had to deal with this.)



That doesn’t stop him from feeling terribly scared when he opens the door that morning, though. 

“Good morning,” Jisung says, standing up on the steps and brushing off his pants. 

“Good morning,” Minho replies, edging to the side where he might be able to skirt around Jisung and get to his car.

Jisung also scoots to the side. ( _Darn,_ Minho thinks.)

“Look, I’m sorry about what I did,” Jisung says. He sounds truly sorry, but Minho is still extremely wary.

“Okay. If that’s all, I have to get to work,” Minho replies, shuffling to the other side and swiftly stepping past Jisung before the man can block him again.

“Wait—can you hear out the rest of what I have to say?” Jisung asks, hovering behind Minho as he unlocks his car. 

Minho takes a deep breath and turns around to face his neighbor. “Are you going to promise not to do any weird… magic… on me, then?”

“Yes!” Jisung earnestly replies, looking incredibly elated that Minho seems to be caving in. “I promise, it’ll just be a conversation!”

“Okay. Then you can meet me here again when I come _back_ from work at 5,” Minho tells him, the tone of his voice leaving no room for argument despite the fact that he is still very much scared. He gives himself a mental pat on the back for not letting his voice waver.

“Oh,” Jisung says, his face falling and the sad eyes are almost enough to make Minho backtrack. No way is Minho going to continue down that train of thought right now, though. 

But Jisung immediately schools his expression back into a smile. “Okay, I’ll see you later!”

“...Later,” Minho replies, stepping into his car and shutting the door. 

It feels weird seeing Jisung standing in the driveway and waving to him as he leaves.   
  


Minho realizes he’s been gripping the steering wheel far too tight, knuckles white as he pulls into his driveway that afternoon. He finally relaxes his hands after turning off the engine, emitting a relieved sigh as he exits the car. 

Because Jisung isn’t there, waiting for him. 

Good, Minho thinks. Maybe Jisung changed his mind and maybe Minho will never have to talk to him again. 

Or… maybe not. 

The doorbell rings only minutes after Minho has settled back into his house, just after he’s changed out of his sweaty dance clothes and into a fresh t-shirt and sweatpants. Minho glances at the clock—it’s exactly five in the afternoon, and Jisung is _very_ punctual, and any hope Minho had about avoiding him slips away.

Oh well, Minho thinks. Here goes nothing. 

He opens the door. 

Jisung is standing there with two boxes of takeout. “Talk over dinner?” he asks. 

“Okay,” Minho says, and Jisung slips off his shoes and enters his house. 

  
  


It turns out that Jisung’s idea of “talking over dinner” means that Jisung fills his cheeks full of food eighty-percent of the time and offers small talk in between bites. Most of which Minho only respectfully nods to. (Why does his scary neighbor have to look so innocuous and harmless and… cute, he despairs.)

Minho gives up at actually getting any information after a few minutes, eating his noodles in thoughtful silence. He thinks Jisung is the first person he’s seen eat like… a squirrel, but he’s not going to point that out either. Jisung said he wouldn’t do anything, but there’s still a chance he could get angry and say some sort of magic spell and Minho would suffer again.

“Alright,” Jisung says, once he’s finished. 

“Alright,” Minho parrots. He _has_ to be careful with his words, he reminds himself.

“So. You know that I have a dragon,” Jisung says, looking Minho right in the eyes. 

“I- yes,” Minho stutters, caught off guard. 

“Okay, now I’m going to apologize once again for putting you unconscious, but I still have to know that you won’t tell anyone else about this,” Jisung says. 

“Of course,” Minho hastily agrees. “I won’t say a word.”

“Okay.” Jisung claps his hands together. “Lir is a water dragon, and he has to spend multiple hours in it every day, which is why I moved in here—I needed to find a house with a pool.”

“And your old house didn’t have one?” Minho asks, and then shuts up. What if Jisung doesn’t want him prying into his past?

But Jisung doesn’t seem to mind. “Yeah, but it was a pretty small pool. Then Lir grew a bit and it didn’t work very well anymore.”

Minho nods. 

“Oh—and I don’t actually have a dog,” Jisung laughs. “Although you probably know now.”

“So… do you _only_ have a pet dragon?” Minho asks, slowly. 

“I mean, there is the troll in the basement,” Jisung begins, and Minho’s eyebrows shoot up like rockets.

“Just kidding!” Jisung cackles, and doesn’t seem to care that Minho isn’t really laughing along. “Our houses don’t even have basements. So yeah, I only have Lir. He’s a menace to take care of, though.”

“I see…” Minho says. 

“And that’s why I wanted to talk to you!” Jisung says. “I’m going to be going out this coming weekend since I have some things to take care of—” _suspicious,_ Minho thinks, “—so I was wondering if you would be willing to watch after him for me? Since my secret’s already out to you,” he says, almost timidly. “I don’t even know why you can still see and hear him. I don’t think any of the other neighbors can, so you really shouldn’t be able to. And yet… ” Jisung trails off. “Anyway, what do you say?”

“What.” Minho says flatly, wondering if he’s really heard correctly. _What_ has his life become. Is his neighbor asking him to watch over his _dragon_ for the weekend?

“I’ll make it up to you, or pay you, if you want!” Jisung says, leaning forward over the dinner table and he is _way_ too far up in Minho’s face. Minho squirms under his imploring gaze. 

“Um… I guess I can do it,” Minho agrees. “Just this one weekend, right?”

After he’s seen what Jisung could do to him, what’s he going to do, say no? 

“Yes!” Jisung cheers, pumping his fist. “Thank you, thank you so much,” he tells Minho. 

“No problem,” Minho says, even though he thinks this is going to be a _very big_ problem.

\---

Jisung shows up at his door again the day after waving a sheet of paper at him. 

“Good evening!” he says, grinning like they haven’t had a week full of interesting encounters.

“Hi…” Minho says, warily. 

“So I typed up all this information for when you’re going to watch after Lir this weekend,” Jisung says. 

Right. That’s a thing that’s going to happen.

“Okay,” Minho replies, taking the paper and scanning it over. In bold, there are the words **FOOD** and **MUST DO:** and in striking big red letters at the bottom of the page is DO NOT LET LIR INSIDE!!! Minho cracks a small smile. 

“So I just made a list of what things he can eat and then how much he should eat in a meal. And this—” Jisung gestures to the **MUST DO** section “—is what you have to guarantee gets done every day. Stuff like the proper amount of time he should spend in the water and how much human interaction you should give him and all that,” Jisung says. 

The weekend is still a few days away but Minho already feels a headache coming on. Jisung doesn’t seem to notice, though, and continues on undisturbed. 

“There isn’t too much to keep in mind, though,” he says, flashing Minho a smile. “As long as he doesn’t get inside the house then everything else should go pretty well.”

“Um… would Lir… try to get into the house?”

“Probably not!” Jisung says brightly. “The house obviously wasn’t designed to fit a dragon inside, so he’d turn everything to ruin if he got in. But generally he only tries to get in if he feels really lonely—so that’s why you should play with him for at least an hour each day.”

 _Play_ with a dragon? Minho recalls the _big, sharp,_ teeth. His head spins. He looks at the paper. Are there instructions for how to do that?

“Hey, don’t worry,” Jisung says, finally picking up on Minho’s dilemma. “I promise it’s not that bad since Lir likes meeting new people and he doesn’t often get the chance too.” 

“Cool,” Minho says. But what he’s really thinking about is that in the event something does go wrong, Jisung won’t even be in town to stop it. Or maybe the dragon might just kill Minho in the process and maybe Jisung wouldn’t mind. Who knows.

“Thanks for this paper and the heads-up,” Minho says instead. 

“Thank _you_ for helping,” Jisung tells him. “I haven’t had a non-magic friend before!” 

_Non-magic?_ Minho thinks, followed by _I don’t think this counts as us being friends? Especially when I’m still kind of scared of you? And your pet?_

Not that he’d say any of that out loud. And Jisung has already skipped away by the time Minho has time to collect his thoughts.

\---

Far too soon, the weekend arrives. Minho stands on Jisung’s doorstep Saturday morning with a smiling face hiding his overflowing trepidation. 

“Hey!” Jisung says, pulling the door open and he’s wearing a _cloak._ It’s the end of March and Jisung has a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants under a black cloak that almost drapes to his black-sock-clad feet. And he’d thought Jisung didn’t want to draw attention to himself.

 _Don’t ask,_ Minho thinks. Jisung must sense his curiosity, though, because he pulls the cloak’s hood over his head down to his eyes. “Cool getup, eh?” he asks. “I need it for where I’m going this weekend.” 

As if that answers any unasked questions. “Sure… ” Minho says instead. He wonders if Jisung is a… witch? Maybe he’s going to a witchy convention? Like… a coven? Is that what they’re called? Or maybe Minho will never know and he doesn’t need to know.

“Come in,” Jisung says after Minho stands there for one too many awkward seconds. Minho shrugs his shoes off and follows Jisung inside. 

“Uh… ” What’s he supposed to do now?

“Just take your shoes,” Jisung tells him. “Lir’s out in the backyard.”

“Okay,” Minho says, obediently trailing after Jisung through the house and back outside.

Now he has a close-up view of the dragon. 

Somehow, without the fence boards between Minho and the creature, the situation feels a lot more real. And yet Minho also finds himself inexplicably less scared even though the dragon is only feet away. He could reach out and touch it. 

The dragon’s scales look even more iridescent here, though they always seem to settle on a shade of light blue. Today, the dragon isn’t making a huge mess—it is just sitting in the pool, wings slowly drifting with the breeze. Minho stares, entranced. 

Then the dragon opens its mouth. Again. Yep, those are sharp teeth. Minho blinks out of his stupor and backs away.

“Aww, Lir’s smiling at you! I think he likes you,” Jisung tells him.

“Yeah,” Minho manages to say, laughing nervously. 

Jisung steps towards a large lidded sandbox by the side of the pool and beckons him over. He lifts the lid for Minho to see that the sandbox is not filled with sand but rather loaded with dead fish. And the stench is almost overpowering.

At once, the dragon—Lir—lets out a loud huff. 

“Not now, Lir,” Jisung says, pulling the lid back on.

“Always keep the lid on,” Jisung turns back to Minho. “It has a magical seal so Lir can’t be sneaky and gorge on all the fish at once because he _will_ if you leave the lid off, okay?”

Minho nods, mutely. 

“The fish should last you the entire weekend, but if Lir’s being annoying I have snacks in the kitchen in the cabinets and fridge that you can give him to shut him up,” Jisung continues. “List of things he can eat is on the paper I gave you.”

Minho nods again. The sheet of paper is tucked securely into his pocket, and he’d read it over multiple times so he’s sort of memorized the list, even if half of it consists of strange, questionable things, like _kelp stalk: chopped,_ or _apples soaked in sea salt._

“Hmm…” Jisung taps his chin. “I don’t think there’s anything else important that I haven’t already said or written down for you.” 

“Oh!” Jisung suddenly says. He swirls around, cloak swishing with him. “Water guns in the shed!” 

“Am I… playing with the dragon… with water guns?” Minho slowly says. 

“Yes!” Jisung looks elated. “It’s so much fun, I promise!”

“Okay.” Minho tries not to look like he’d rather be anywhere else. Hyunjin would probably be laughing at him right now, except for the fact that this is the kind of thing Minho can’t tell other people because he doesn’t want to be skewered by Jisung and because others likely wouldn’t even believe him.

Meanwhile, Lir has taken to sticking his snout into the water and blowing large bubbles. It’s _kind of_ endearing, Minho admits. 

They go back into the house. Lir flaps his wings lazily and Minho feels the gust of air as he closes the sliding door behind him.

“Alright. I’ll have to head out in a minute but feel free to chill inside. Bathroom’s there,” Jisung gestures down the hall. “Uh… don’t go in my bedroom… or the garage,” he adds, pointing to two closed doors. “And you can probably go back to your house after dinner each day,” Jisung tells him. “Just close _all_ the doors because they also have a seal preventing Lir from going inside the house, okay?”

“Sure,” Minho nods. He is most definitely treating himself to a drink after this weekend, he thinks. 

“Thank you so much,” Jisung says again, smiling at him. He heads out the front door and waves goodbye to Minho as he enters his van. For once, its windows aren’t draped with black cloth, Minho notices. 

Then there is a loud whining sound from the backyard, drawing Minho’s attention back to… the dragon.

 _What has my life become,_ he thinks miserably. 

\---

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, i'm back with more fantasy and more minsung—this time with dragons because yeah dragons are cool! hope you guys enjoy the rest of the journey :DD


	2. Chapter 2

Minho thinks he should write a guide: _How to not die when stuck looking after your neighbor’s pet dragon. Oh, and you barely know the neighbor. You also still don’t really know how to deal with the dragon. And you have to come back tomorrow to do it again._

Jisung leaves the house—leaves Minho on his own—at 9:26 in the morning.

Minho spends a few minutes rethinking his decisions and stalling on social media apps before accepting his doom. He cautiously steps back into the backyard at 9:30 where he and the dragon have a silent stare-off. 

Minho blinks first. The dragon blinks afterward, slow and lazy, and he can see all the tiny flecks of sky blue reflecting the light in its large sapphire eyes. Minho is caught off-guard by how _wise_ this makes Lir appear and is struck by the thought that Lir probably _is_ quite intelligent.

“Hi,” Minho finally warbles. “Um… I’ll try my best to look after you so please don’t kill me.”

Still, intelligence doesn’t necessarily equate to being open to communication. Lir continues to sit unmoving in the pool like a rock save for the sway of its wings, and gives no sign that he has heard or understood Minho’s words.

Well, that’s just great. 

Minho’s _fairly_ sure that Lir can understand him since the dragon seemed to respond to Jisung earlier, but maybe Jisung and Lir just have some sort of magical bond. 

“Uhhhh… okay, okay,” Minho mutters to himself as he tries to get a grip on the situation. He consults the sheet of paper Jisung had given him and comes up fairly empty. _Feed him twice: once at noon and once more around 5 in the evening._ Jisung had written. _Play with him for an hour, preferably between those two meals. Also, Lir likes the water and he kind of needs to sleep in the pool, but he doesn’t need to sit in the pool all day—a few hours outside of water is fine if you want!_ This is followed by a cutely drawn smiley face but Minho does not smile with it because that still leaves him rather confused as to what he should do for the next hours until noon arrives. 

He remembers Jisung saying once that Lir enjoys meeting new people, except what’s Minho going to do, talk about himself like an idiot and have more one-sided conversation?

The thing is, Minho has always prided himself in being able to get along with animals: the stray cats that he sometimes leaves milk out for and the birds that sometimes stop by his backyard, perching atop the feeders he’s hung from the trees. 

Unfortunately, he’s not quite sure what to do with a dragon. 

Minho almost feels bad when he drops into one of the lawn chairs under an umbrella Jisung has set out and resorts to scrolling his phone again. 

The peaceful silence lasts for a few minutes before Lir seems to have a different idea in store. 

Despite not responding to Minho’s initial attempt at discussion, Minho is soon rather rudely interrupted from his phone-scrolling by a burst of water sprayed at his face. 

Minho splutters, rubbing his eyes and checking his phone to confirm that it suffered no water damage. Leaving it on the table where it will hopefully stay dry, he stands up to face the dragon—or rather, look down on the dragon, now. Lir has submerged himself in the water, with only the top of his head visible: pale blue horns sticking up like tiny masts, large ears twitching as Minho moves around, snout poised to strike and spray, and eyes… 

Contrary to earlier, Minho swears Lir now has this mischievous sparkle in his eyes—maybe it’s just the way the sun is hitting the dragon’s pupils, but Minho almost thinks that they are tinkling playfully. 

“To hell with this,” Minho mutters under his breath. Okay, Jisung had said there were… water guns… in the shed. He cannot believe he’s doing this, but…

Sure enough, Minho pries open the shed doors to find two incredibly large water guns, in an amazing combination of colors: bright neon green and shiny plastic blue. He opts for the blue one since it looks a little less like it belongs in some cringey advertisement on TV. And he figures it matches the entirely blue color scheme Lir has going on.

Minho turns back around, water gun in hand, and sees Lir eyeing him as he approaches. Warily, Minho edges around the pool until he finds the spot that is furthest from the dragon’s snout because even if the dragon doesn’t intend to kill him Minho does not want to be in its direct line of sight if it decides to blast him with water again. 

He squats down by the pool’s edge and loads up the gun, feeling it grow heavier as it sucks up more water. Lir has now stood up in the pool and turned around so that when Minho stands he is caught face-to-face with the dragon. 

Minho takes a nervous step back. Lir stretches his long neck forward, following him. 

Minho takes another step back. The dragon’s muzzle is still up in his face.

Minho takes more steps back until he is stopped by a fence. 

Fortunately, Lir can’t crane his neck forward that much, and Minho edges against the side of the fence until he is safely away from the dragon.

Unfortunately, that’s only what he thinks. 

Very quickly, Minho realizes evading a dragon is no easy task.

In one swift movement, Lir springs out of the pool. He gives a massive full-body shake, head rolling side-to-side and wings flapping furiously. This has the effect of flinging water everywhere as he dries himself off like an enormous dog, and Minho. Is. Drenched. 

The water is cold and it makes his shirt and shorts stick to him rather uncomfortably.

Not to mention, he’s now very up-close and personal with his _favorite_ dragon again. 

Lir grins. 

Minho really wanted to have a firsthand encounter with spiky dragon teeth. Especially the longer and sharper canines that are now in view.

Lir edges closer. 

Minho panics. He unloads his entire water gun straight at Lir’s snout, and realizes belatedly that most of it probably went right into the dragon’s eyes. 

Lir blinks and shakes his head and Minho takes the split-second opportunity to duck toward the porch.

He turns around and nearly jumps back when he sees that the dragon’s head is right in his face. Again. And Lir is still smiling a toothy dragon smile. 

… well, Lir is a water dragon, Minho thinks. Perhaps a shot at the eyes doesn’t faze him as much as it would faze humans, who don’t spend over half of their waking hours in the water.

On the plus side, Minho can attest that the dragon is rather more of a playful dragon than a wants-to-kill-humans-dragon. He’ll have to get used to the teeth, though.

As if on cue, Lir sprays another noseful of water at Minho’s face. 

And, well, Minho decides, _fuck it._ He’s already soaked with water so he might as well go along with this.

What ensues is a long game of human and dragon blasting each other with shots of water. Sadly, Minho thinks the dragon has the upper hand because Minho has to frequently return to the pool to fill the water gun with water. Meanwhile, Lir is never rushed as he bends down and stores gallons of water in his cheeks with one dip of his mouth into the pool.

Also, a dragon with the body size of a horse can cover a lot more area than a human in one step. Minho finds that Lir quite enjoys chasing him rather than the other way around. Dodging dragons should be an extreme sport, he notes.

Some time later, Minho flops back into the lawn chair, panting from exhaustion and sopping wet, and Lir gracefully dives back into the water. This time the dragon has taken to idly floating upside down, revealing a pale blue underbelly that contrasts the darker scales lining its neck, tail, and back. His cerulean blue wings are splayed out against the pool’s surface. 

Wait a second. 

The dragon has wings. (Of course.) 

“Can you fly?” Minho asks out loud.

And… no response. Tiny puffs of water shoot up and land back into the pool with the dragon’s breaths, but there is no other sound. 

Minho leans back into the lawn chair, grateful for the shade from the umbrella above, and lets his thoughts wander. 

The fact is that the dragon has wings. But can he actually lift himself into the air with them? The wings certainly look big enough to—Minho thinks Lir’s wingspan has got to be twice the length of his body when stretched out. Or at least the same length as Lir from his head to the tip of his tail. 

Then, maybe the dragon doesn’t want to fly. Maybe he’s satisfied just soaking in the water. 

Or maybe… Lir is able to fly, but he _can’t._

Minho recalls all the details Jisung had pointed out—the sealed lid to the sandbox, the magically sealed house doors. He wonders if it’s possibly to somehow put a spell over the house that would prevent Lir from flying away. 

Would Lir want to fly away? Minho doesn’t know. The dragon doesn’t look discontent, nor does he look like he wants to shoot for the sky anytime soon. 

Minho shakes his head to himself. Here he is, concerned over some dragon when he probably has no need to be. 

What a weird day.

And only an hour has passed. 

Finally, though, Lir leaves Minho to his own devices. Minho spends some more time ruminating over the dragon in front of him, and then pulls out his phone again, sending quick texts to his friends and wishing he could share this secret with them. Then he gets bored and starts practicing various choreos in the grass in the backyard, which helps dry off his clothes. All the while, Lir stays in the water, drifting on his back. 

Eventually lunch rolls around, and, as he stares at the sandbox, Minho suddenly realizes he has a crisis: how exactly is he going to feed fish to the dragon?

Minho’s seen people who worked with sea creatures like dolphins and whales—they’d throw fish directly into the open mouths of the animals, but Minho’s not sure if that’s how Jisung does things with Lir. 

He supposes he could hold out the fish, one-by-one, and hope he doesn’t accidentally get bitten each time. 

Or he could just maybe lay the fish on the side of the pool and have Lir take them from there. 

That’s a good idea, Minho congratulates himself. Then he’ll surely stay safe. 

He opens the sandbox. The overpowering stench of fish shoots out before Minho can even hold in a breath.

Lir’s reaction is immediate: his belly disappears back below the water as he flips around, claws once again finding footing on the bottom of the pool. His neck comes darting out of the pool and shoots for the sandbox and Minho slams the lid back down just in the nick of time.

The dragon glares at him. 

_Oh, joy,_ Minho thinks. 

Quickly, he lifts the lid the slightest and reaches a hand in, grimacing as he scrabbles for a fish and it almost slips back into the box. Not to mention, all of the fish are large and heavy—at least a few pounds each. Minho drops the lid back down and Lir seems to sense that he’s not going to be able to take advantage of Minho being caught unaware anymore, since he makes no further attempt at the sandbox full of fish. 

Still, Minho feels very vulnerable standing there, slimy carp in hand. He’s about to place the fish at the pool’s edge when suddenly Lir leans forward and—in one smooth movement—grabs the fish in his jaws. He munches on it a couple times before throwing his head back and swallowing. 

Minho stares. He’s surprised. Because Lir had taken the fish from him so quickly, but also because he had been so gentle, teeth grasping only the edge of the carp and keeping his mouth as far away from Minho’s fingers as possible. 

“Thanks,” Minho says, wide-eyed but genuine, hoping that the dragon at least understands him even if he can’t reply. 

So Minho lets the dragon take the rest of the fish directly from his hands. 

He gives Lir five more fish, as per Jisung’s instructions. There are a variety inside the box, ranging from carp to trout and bass to mackerel. Lir seems fulfilled when Minho finally closes the lid for good, and Minho wonders how he’s going to waste another few hours before dinner. And he also wonders if there’s another way to “play” with the dragon that doesn’t involve him getting wet again.

But first he washes his hands thoroughly with soap in Jisung’s bathroom sink. It takes a long time for the smell to even be reduced to a faint trace.

Then his phone dings on the bathroom counter.

 **Unknown number:** Hello, this is Jisung!  
**Unknown number:** i forgot to mention but there are large rubber gloves in the shed for when you need to feed Lir fish!

That’s _amazing_ , Minho sarcastically thinks. Jisung has impeccable timing. 

At least he’ll have clean hands for dinner, though.

Then he realizes that he never gave his neighbor his number. They’ve only gotten in contact by ringing each other’s doorbells and speaking in person, which is almost surprising in this digital age.

 _Minho set the name of this contact to_ **_Jisung._ **

**Minho:** how did you get my number  
**Minho:** and thanks, just finished feeding him lunch and washing the smell off my hands.

 **Jisung:** 😅 oops sorry about that  
**Jisung:** and… i have my ways

 **Minho:** that’s reallyyyy giving me a better impression of you

There is no reply.

He goes back outside to see Lir putting on a water show—shooting fountains of water through his mouth and nose in large arcs that splash back into the pool. 

Minho watches, mildly impressed, and then becomes incredibly impressed when one of the blasts of water travels in a loop-de-loop before landing on the opposite side of the pool. 

… he’s pretty sure physics doesn’t work like that. 

_Huh,_ Minho muses to himself. The presence of a dragon—a whole, real dragon—doesn’t really obey the laws of nature, so he supposes the fact that the dragon can do magic shouldn’t really surprise him.

A text from his phone has his attention momentarily drawn away:

 **Jisung:** nooo sorry i’ll explain more things when i get back ok?

Seems like Minho might actually get some information about what’s going on in this section of the neighborhood.

 _...ok,_ he replies, and then looks back up from his phone to see what Lir is now up to. 

Minho’s mind blanks at the sight.

Or rather—lack of any sight.

Lir is gone.

Small waves in the pool innocently frolic from side to side, gently crashing against the walls, but there is no more magical water show going on, nor any draconic beast dawdling in that water.

Minho may not be dead, but he can sense annihilation befalling him in that moment. 

How does one lose an entire dragon? 

Minho swears he was distracted by the phone for a minute, tops. Probably no more than thirty seconds, and even that’s a generous estimate. Also, he’s pretty sure he would have seen or heard the dragon exiting the pool.

 **Minho:** so say i lost a dragon  
**Minho:** where would i find him  
**Minho:** just wondering

This time, the reply is immediate.

 **Jisung:** holy SHIT wtf there’s no way lir wouldn’t do that  
**Jisung:** wait are u joking

Minho closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, feeling like the World’s Greatest Fool. 

**Minho:** very sorry. no not joking, he just disappeared.

 **Jisung:** oh wait disappeared you say  
**Jisung:** so you didn’t lose him

 _What?_ Minho thinks, confused. 

**Minho:**???

 **Jisung:** ok i had my suspicions about this  
**Jisung:** listen… even I didn’t think about this possibility until a week ago when you showed up at my doorstep and said you could see lir  
**Jisung:** i thought only magic users could see him all the time and nobody else could ever see him and that was just how it works  
**Jisung:** but i think lir can also decide when and who he reveals himself to  
**Jisung:** so pretty sure he’s wherever you left him. just making himself temporarily invisible to you

Minho looks up from his phone again. The pool is still empty. 

But there _are_ still tiny waves lapping at the pool—like the water’s being disturbed by a solid body—and if the waves were truly following the hypothetical rules of the universe then they should have died down by now. 

He feels like a genius detective for realizing that. 

**Minho:** okay. I think you’re right. thanks 

**Jisung:** ahh no problem! sorry you have to deal with that  
**Jisung:** hehe but maybe lir is feeling playful c:

 **Minho:** i hope you do not expect me to play hide and seek with a now INVISIBLE dragon  
**Minho:** i would be at such a disadvantage

 **Jisung:** well there’s only so much space in the backyard for lir to go  
**Jisung:** and maybe it’s not really hide and seek  
**Jisung:** maybe he just wants to hide and you find him

 **Minho:** …  
**Minho:** fun.

 **Jisung:** ^w^  
**Jisung:** (thanks again)

So this is how it must feel to be one of Jisung’s _normal_ neighbors, Minho thinks. Unaware, unsuspecting, and all the while there is really a fantastical creature living in the adjacent backyard. 

Except Minho is not unaware and he certainly suspects there is a hidden dragon in the pool. 

Five minutes later, and Lir reveals himself, and with it, last of Minho’s stress ebbs away; he was still a _tiny_ bit anxious over the fact that he might have just been imagining things in the pool and that Lir had truly gone. 

Fortunately, the dragon doesn’t actually seem to expect a game of invisible hiding. Minho searches through Jisung’s kitchen for one of the snacks on his list (he finds kelp stalks floating in a watery box at the bottom drawer of the fridge) and gives some to Lir in the hopes that the dragon will take it as a treat to not disappear on him again.

In the meantime, Minho cooks himself a meal using some pasta and pots he finds in Jisung’s cabinets when his stomach grumbles and he realizes he hasn’t eaten in hours. 

Somehow he finds ways to spend the rest of his time until Lir’s designated dinnertime, and the process of feeding goes a lot smoother this time now that he no longer has to get his hands dirty thanks to the help of gloves. 

Minho finally heads home afterward, careful to lock all the doors and the fence gate as Jisung had told him to. He takes a nice, hot shower, browses the internet, and conks out in bed soon after, making sure he’s set an alarm for the next morning. 

\---

Minho is an idiot. 

Maybe Jisung is too.

How did this never cross either of their minds??

 **Minho:** good morning jisung.  
**Minho:** i am locked out of your house and i would preferably not like to hop the backyard fence to get back in

He taps his feet, awkwardly standing on the doorstep. There is no response. 

Minho gives up and calls the number under Jisung’s contact. 

“Hello? Minho?” Jisung speaks in a hushed voice as he picks up the phone. “Sorry, I had to slip out of a meeting so I have to be quiet,” he apologizes.

“I’m locked out of the house,” Minho tells him.

“Oh!” Jisung nearly shouts into the phone moments after he had said he needed to be quiet. Then his voice lowers again, sheepish. “Sorry, it really seems that I’ve forgotten to tell you a lot of things, haven’t I.”

“So…?” Minho prompts.

“Check under the doormat,” Jisung says, voice rushed, and hangs up. 

That is the _most_ obvious place anyone would stick a spare key and probably not the best idea for security, but it seems… fitting, somehow. Minho procures the key and unlocks the door. 

Sunday passes a lot like the previous day, except this time Minho is less reproachful of the entire situation. He brings a spare change of clothes, swimming trunks, and a towel, along with his laptop this time, fully prepared to get soaked again and also so he can get some work done when Lir is relaxing in the pool. The dragon also doesn’t attempt any vanishing tricks today, much to Minho’s relief.

Sometime after lunch Minho gets roped into another water fight, maneuvering around the backyard while being chased by a dragon (he’s accepted the strangeness of the situation.) 

Then he slips on the pool’s edge and the momentum he had sends him toppling straight into the water. 

Minho resurfaces, blinking the water out of his eyes and searching for the water gun. 

Suddenly the bright blue piece of plastic is almost right up in his face; claws clamped down on the pool’s edge and neck straining forward, Lir has the water gun gingerly set between his teeth as he offers it back to Minho. 

A wave of fondness rolls over Minho and, without thinking, he reaches a hand out to rub the dragon’s snout. Lir _purrs,_ leaning into the touch, and Minho feels like he’s petting the stray cats, except, of course, a dragon is not a cat. The sound is magnified so much that he can also hear the dragon’s low vibrating undertones that resonate right in his own chest. 

_Perhaps this isn’t so bad,_ Minho thinks, delicately removing the water gun from the dragon’s jaws.

And then, because no sweet moment can ever last, Lir dives into the pool as well, front legs stretched outward and the rest of his streamlined body following, spine undulating as if it is made of liquid itself.

Minho jerks his head away so he doesn’t get a mess of pool water in his eyes again, but the moment he does so he suddenly feels something sliding under him. Before he can realize what is happening, Minho finds himself atop the dragon’s neck and slipping down, down, down—and then just as he starts panic Lir’s pillowy wings catch him and the dragon leans forward to create a flatter plane and Minho is soon seated securely on the dragon’s back.

Lir twists his head around to grin his toothy grin at Minho. For once, Minho is not at all scared.

His clothes are dripping water down the dragon’s back and Minho is still trying to catch his breath from Lir’s smooth stunt, but he grins back. 

_Woah,_ is all his brain seems capable of repeating. Lir is rapidly rising on Minho’s list of favorites. 

Minho inspects the dragon’s scales up close—each is about half the length and width of his hand and has an elliptical shape. They’re certainly tough and hard, but they’re smooth from all his time in the water and their iridescence is still what awes Minho the most; the way the scales catch the light and shifting between colors and shades while still maintaining a deep blue undertone is definitely enrapturing. 

It’s an honor to rest atop such a magnificent creature, Minho thinks.

  
  
  


This is how Jisung finds the two half an hour later: 

Lir, sprawled out flatly and floating on his belly like an alligator, leisurely blowing bubbles into one end of the pool, and Minho, lying down against Lir’s back and staring up at the sky. 

Jisung enters the backyard silently and Minho doesn’t notice him until a minute after. He scrambles into a sitting position on Lir’s back and sees Jisung grinning marvelously like this is the best sight to have ever graced his eyes.

“I thought you weren’t gonna be back this early,” Minho says, caught off guard. There are still a couple hours until dinner. 

And there’s nothing wrong with him being all buddy-buddy with the dragon all of a sudden but Jisung’s starstruck eyes are sort of making him self-conscious and defensive of the whole situation. Especially since Minho’s pretty sure he now knows his neighbor’s dragon better than his actual neighbor.

“Stuff ended sooner than expected,” Jisung replies, shrugging, his cloak lifting with the movement. He is still dressed in all black.

“Oh,” Minho says.

“So,” Jisung begins slyly, “looks like you two are having a fun time.”

“I guess,” Minho reluctantly admits, and then he is being thrown into the water as Lir rolls over. 

Minho resurfaces, running a hand through his wet hair. And he had _just_ dried off. Darn. 

“Well, I guess Lir didn’t like that response,” Minho jokes. 

Jisung thoughtfully assesses him, a lopsided _i-knew-it_ grin still on his face. 

“Yeah, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would,” Minho says openly, giving in. Lir shoots up a small burst of mist in acknowledgement and both he and Jisung laugh at it. 

Minho pulls himself out of the pool, creating a wet puddle in the cement and the surrounding grass. He reaches for the towel he had brought to dry himself off. 

Jisung is still standing there, though his eyes are now averted away from him, Minho notes with amusement. 

“So how’d your… magic stuff… go?” Minho asks. 

Jisung finally responds, pulling a face. “Boring as usual,” he says. “But!” he lifts a finger, “I guess I owe you an explanation.”

“If you want,” Minho says, feeling particularly upbeat from basking (on a dragon’s back!) in the light spring sun and unable to hold much of a grudge against Jisung even if he is still a bit wary of the man. 

“I do,” Jisung says, smiling again. “You definitely deserve one after all this.”

Then he glances down. “Uh, hold on, I’ll be right back.”

Cloak trailing behind him, Jisung darts back into the house and comes flailing out of his room a minute later in normal clothes—a loose white shirt and grey shorts. 

Minho has seated himself in one of the lawn chairs, elbows propped against the small circular table as he watches Lir paddle in place with mild interest. Jisung hops into the opposite chair and mirrors Minho’s position, resting his chin in his palms and elbows on the table. 

Minho supposes Jisung must think it’s amusing, but the only thing it really serves to do is place Jisung’s face right in front of his. Jisung’s eyes flash between Lir and Minho and a goofy smile forms on his face again.

“Can you stop?” Minho asks. “Yes. I’ll admit I like your dragon, but that smile is putting me on edge.”

“Whoops,” Jisung laughs breezily. He leans back into his chair, but a trace of a smile still lingers on his face, in the upward pull of his mouth. “So where should I start?”

“Hmm,” Minho considers his options. “How’d you get my number?”

“Oh yeah, that,” Jisung says ruefully. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“My methods for that were probably quite questionable,” Jisung replies, “But… anyway, for you to understand I’ll have to explain a bit more… about where I went and what I do and all that sort of stuff.”

“Okay.” Palms up, Minho spreads his arms out. “I have time.”

“True,” Jisung affirms. “So first thing’s first—I’m a witch.”

“Uh, I’m gonna be honest, all of this is new to me. I’m not sure how exactly that information helps me understand anything,” Minho replies. 

“Right, right,” Jisung says, laughing. “Magic runs in the family. My parents ran a nursery for dragons.”

“Ran..?” Minho cautiously asks. 

“It was a while back,” Jisung says. “I was just a kid at the time. But a group of witches rebelled because they thought that dragons were too powerful and that they could eventually be a threat to the witch community. Long story short, they stormed a bunch of nurseries, cast some death hexes that they shouldn’t have been able to, and killed many of the dragons. Only four dragons in my parents’ nursery survived, but since the majority of the nursery had been burnt down, we rehomed them to other friendly witches. We’d visit those dragons frequently as I was growing up, and I guess Lir took a liking to me,” Jisung says, smiling. “So I got permission to raise him and we’re basically bonded at this point.”

Lir heartily slaps his tail in the water to showcase his own enthusiasm, and Minho’s heart warms at the sight. 

“So… dragons are powerful, huh?” He asks. “I mean, obviously, but… ” 

“Oh—very,” Jisung tells him. “It’s just that they’re really very friendly and smart creatures—they wouldn’t want to harm anyone, least of all the witches whose blood runs with the same magic, unless they were being treated with violence, you know?”

“Yeah,” Minho replies. “Magic?”

“Dragons are definitely more capable of magic than even the most powerful witches,” Jisung explains. “That’s part of what makes them so powerful. But again—they don’t really use it in that way.”

“Then… sorry if this is rude, but are the dragons content to just stay with witches? Like, _can_ Lir fly? Or fly away? I’ve been pretty curious,” Minho admits.

“He can!” Jisung’s smile widens. “But since he’s a water dragon he gets most of his energy from the water and can’t fly a great distance at once. And I take him flying a fair amount, so I would hope that he never feels trapped here…” 

Then Jisung’s mouth becomes the shape of a large O. “Minho!” he exclaims. “You should come with us sometime!” 

“Flying… on a dragon?” Minho asks, a bit lightheaded at this thought. “I mean…” 

“It’s amazing,” Jisung tells him. 

“I don’t like heights,” Minho mutters. “Flying on a plane is one thing since we’re walled in, but… what if…”

“Lir’s not going to drop you, guaranteed,” Jisung eagerly reassures him. “Please, you should totally join us sometime, okay?”

“Sure,” Minho relents, and can’t help the way his mouth subconsciously parts into a smile at the sight of Jisung’s eyes lighting up at his response. 

“Anyway,” Jisung continues. He suddenly narrows his eyes. “You didn’t go into the garage, right?”

“No, never,” Minho puts his hands up to show he’s being honest. “You literally told me not to.”

“Okay, good,” Jisung tells him. “But I guess now you can if you wanted.”

“Why?” Minho asks. 

“Since Lir is incredibly magical,” Jisung says, dramatically shooting a wink to the dragon (Lir sprays a small burst of water at Jisung’s face and Minho can only laugh at him), “I use him a source of magic for all my spells and orders that I brew up in the garage.”

That’s certainly not what Minho would’ve thought, though he doesn’t know what he expected to hear.

“Man, that place is a mess,” Jisung groans. “I need to clean it up first and make sure there’s nothing dangerous lying around, then I’ll show you around sometime.”

“Okay..” Minho hesitantly agrees. It’s not like Jisung needs to show him all this, but he won’t deny that he’s curious.

“Also—that’s where I went this weekend,” Jisung informs him. “It’s like a mandatory sort of gathering for all us magical folk. First day is always to discuss the state of the witch community and go over any proposed new rules and all that such. Second day was more of an informal get-together though, I loaded up my brews into the trunk before I left so I could give them to people who ordered all at once.”

“So… the first part is like… a sort of local government?” Minho asks. “Why were you even wearing all that funny attire?” he can’t help but add.

“Hey, it’s not _funny!”_ Jisung retorts. Then he cracks a grin. “Okay, it is pretty funny. I don’t know, it’s like an age-old tradition or something. When they used to meet in the forest at night so dark robes helped them stay hidden.”

“That was an actual thing?” Minho gapes, amused at the thought. “Sounds kind of like a cult.”

“I don’t know?” Jisung shrugs, looking comically helpless. “It’s not like we meet in the forest anymore, so the dress code is pretty impractical these days. I just roll with it. Wearing a cloak is pretty fun, though, you do anything and it goes _whoosh_!” he says, miming the way it flows with his hands

“Right,” Minho is trying harder to school his face into something neutral, and nods respectfully. 

“So! Phone number,” Jisung says, sensing that he is being internally laughed at. 

Minho waits. 

Jisung fidgets with the bottom of his shirt. “Well… I’m not sure how legal it is, but…”

“But?” Minho prompts. 

“Basically, some of the witches got lists from the telephone service providers so we have an entire database of phone numbers… it’s for the odd case that something magical goes wrong—like… if a witch goes rogue then we can contact the non-magic people in the area under the guise of officials and give them a different excuse to evacuate.”

“And… you used that list to tell me about… gloves,” Minho deadpans. 

“Wellllllll,” Jisung draws out. “That’s important, right?”

“Obviously.” Again, Minho tries his hardest not to laugh. He can’t believe this is the same person who knocked him unconscious the other day. Perhaps it’s best to let things slide, he thinks. Jisung was probably just nervous and he seems not to have meant it. 

“Hey, I was just being honest,” Jisung returns. “Now you know.”

“Then… when you texted me yesterday you said that Lir can _choose_ who he reveals himself to?” Minho recalls. 

“I’m really not sure,” Jisung replies. “I hadn’t seen anything like that before, but I’m guessing that he can appear to non-magic people if he chooses to. Not sure why he chose you, though—wait.” His hands suddenly stop in their animated motions, words cutting off. 

“Wait a second,” Jisung repeats.

“What?” Minho curiously asks. 

“If this is what I think it is…” Jisung turns to Lir, and sees that the dragon is innocently floating belly-up in the pool, face coincidentally turned away from the two. Minho can only look between dragon and witch, confused.

“I cannot believe this,” Jisung says, and when he turns back to Minho he is _blushing._

“What?” Minho asks again, trying to catch Jisung’s eyes—but the latter is furiously evading his gaze.

“So _that’s_ why I felt resistance when I was performing the knockout spell,” Jisung mutters, face still redder than the temperature outside calls for. 

Suddenly apprehensive again at the mention of the knockout spell, Minho edges his chair slightly further away from the table. “What do you mean?” he tries a third time.

“Oh, Lir is one real cheeky dragon,” Jisung says, and that’s all Minho gets. 

\---

Two days later Jisung shows up on Minho’s doorstep after dinner holding a small box of… something. He can’t really tell what’s inside since the box is both opaque and has a lid set over it. 

“Good evening,” Jisung begins nervously. 

“Good evening,” Minho replies, raising a questioning eyebrow. 

“Um…” Jisung shifts on his feet. “Lir and I worked together to make this as a thank you gift for last weekend and also as an apology for how I treated you when you told me you could see Lir.”

“Huh,” Minho replies, taking the box. He’s even more intrigued now. “Thank you.”

“No, thank _you_ ,” Jisung is quick to correct. “And sorry about that again.”

“Hey, lighten up,” Minho tells him. “You’ve apologized for that multiple times now. We’re okay.”

“Oh—we are?” Jisung asks, hopeful expression on his face and a renewed light in his eyes. 

“Definitely,” Minho replies, offering Jisung a friendly smile. “I get the sense that you wouldn’t try to magic me unconscious again.”

“Of course!” Jisung nods frantically. “Uh… see you around, then!” he says, quickly making an exit.

“... you too,” Minho returns, but Jisung is already out of earshot. 

  
  
  


He removes the lid of the box to find chocolates. Lots of them, each bite-sized but in the shape of a wave, and incredibly detailed etching on their surfaces. 

_Huh,_ Minho thinks again. Jisung had said Lir played a part in making these, and he wonders if magic was somehow involved.

One chocolate later, Minho finds his answer.

He tastes the smooth dark and sugary shell before the inside of it bursts open in his mouth, effervescent liquid gushing out of the now-melted chocolate layer. 

For a moment, Minho feels like he is flying, except his feet are very much still grounded by the constant pull of gravity. 

But by the time he has swallowed the chocolate, he feels like his head has become much clearer—he suddenly feels like he could conquer any daunting task set for him.

 _Forget coffee,_ Minho thinks. This is refreshing and an instant energy boost.

  
  
  


**Minho:** hey, thanks for the chocolates!! they’re super good!   
**Minho:** but these are… magic-infused, right  
**Minho:** not secretly feeding me drugs or anything, are you

 **Jisung:** NO!!  
**Jisung:** ofc not   
**Jisung:** i wouldnt eat too many at once since it’s chocolate and high-energy magic going straight to your bloodstream but they are not drugs sfjdklkfadsjl

 **Minho:** ok. just checking lol

\---

**Jisung:** hello…. 😅  
**Jisung:** pretty please will you watch over lir this weekend?   
**Jisung:** i would be eternally grateful  
**Jisung:** and i’ll treat you to dinner when i get back!!

 **Minho:** i thought you said it would just be one time >_>

 **Jisung:** h a h a . . .

 **Minho:** nice.   
**Minho:** what would you even do without me

 **Jisung:** take lir over to my parents’ for the weekend probably  
**Jisung:** but it’s a bit of a distance away so this is more convenient  
**Jisung:** ahh i’m so sorry, but pleaseeeee??

 **Minho:** …   
**Minho:** can you hear me sighing?  
**Minho:** but okay 

\---

… it sort of becomes a routine.

  
  
  


Once a month, Jisung sends him a sheepish message asking if he’ll help out and Minho pretends to be exasperated when he replies.

Once a month, Jisung goes off to his magic meetings, and once a month, Minho pretty much lives in his neighbor’s house. 

Minho wouldn’t exactly call it watching over Lir; he’s pretty sure the dragon could protect him better than he could do vice-versa. But he provides human company in the form of being a victim for Lir’s water attacks, and he also prevents the dragon from swallowing far more fish than he should, at least. 

Besides, Minho doesn’t really mind it anymore. He’d never thought he would be able to call himself friends with a _dragon,_ but he thinks that perhaps he can, now. 

\---

But there are the _antics._

Here’s what Minho means:

1\. Lir has this magical sixth sense for when Jisung’s about to get home. 

One time, Minho is in the middle of an intense pool-confined water fight when a scaly and muscular tail abruptly wraps around his torso and deposits him sopping wet in the grass. 

Then Jisung slides open the back door and— _great_ —he gets to see Minho shirtless and dripping water all over. He wouldn’t have even been that embarrassed about it but then Jisung flushes bright red so Minho scrambles for a towel, pretending that he doesn’t notice. 

Lir, still in the pool, opens his mouth and reveals his signature spiky-toothed grin.

Minho feels no remorse when he retrieves the water gun and shoots a rather aggressive spurt of water back at the dragon.

2\. Minho almost suspects the dragon is trying to set them up, or _something._

Another time, Minho is absentmindedly tapping out an email on his laptop when Jisung enters the backyard, having already changed out of his dark attire. 

Lir takes this as an invitation to stir up a huge wave with his wings, soaking Jisung immediately as he steps outside. 

“Awww, Lir, did you miss me?” Jisung asks, barely blinking as the wave crashes over him. (This is a frequent occurrence. Even Minho is getting used to being unexpectedly drenched these days.) 

Lir’s head comes popping out of the water and he quickly bounds across the pool, leaning forward to meet Jisung, whose arms are stretched wide open. “C’mere,” Jisung says, grinning as he wraps as much of the dragon’s head as he can in a hug. Lir ducks down into his arms, half-nuzzling Jisung, and the witch reflexively jerks his face away to avoid being pierced by the sharp horns on the dragon’s head.

Minho looks up from his laptop, and he can’t help but grin as he watches Jisung trying to wrestle the dragon’s head into an unmoving hug. 

Then Jisung looks over the dragon’s head and meets Minho’s eyes, and his neighbor has the cheekiness to stick his tongue out at him. Like Jisung is saying _yeah Lir may like you but he still likes me the most._

Minho childishly sticks his own tongue out in return. 

Lir, sensing that Jisung is no longer pouring his heart completely out into the hug, swivels his head around to regard the object of Jisung’s distracted attention.

“I have _electronics,_ ” Minho says. “Please don’t splash me.” Then he feels his own eyes widening in horror when Lir rears back, preparing an attack anyway. 

Well. The laptop is spared from the splash. 

Minho is not. 

Lir sends an arc of water that leaps over the laptop to fall all over Minho. Jisung cackles besides the pool, and in a quick burst of impulse Minho picks up the water gun by his feet—conveniently filled up—and sprays it right at Jisung. 

Jisung is already soaked but that wipes the stupid smile right off his face. 

Then Lir decides that he must join in on the fun. 

In a matter of seconds, Lir has leaped out of the pool, and then Minho feels the seat beneath him giving away as the dragon’s tail curls around him and lifts him up. Minho knows he must look rather goofy as his arms and legs swing like a broken windmill in Lir’s grasp. 

Then Lir drops him into the pool. Moments later, Jisung is dumped into the pool beside him. 

“You just _had_ to shoot me, didn’t you,” Jisung says, narrowing his eyes as he turns to address Minho. 

Before Minho can reply, Lir dives into the pool as well, and then both of them are swept up onto the dragon’s back. 

Minho is quickly realizing that there’s not as much room for two people here, especially when he and Jisung are facing each other and there is less space between them than Minho would like. He is contemplating whether or not he should slip back off into the water, but Lir has other ideas. 

His tail curls up and pokes itself insistently into Jisung’s back, and Jisung scoffs at the action. But this must bother the dragon because Lir then sends a particularly hard push of his tail into Jisung and he pitches forward, hands flying up for purchase on anything they can find. 

That _anything_ happens to be Minho’s shoulders, and the momentum of the dragon’s shove sends both of them tipping backward. Minho almost experiences it in slow motion—the way Jisung’s eyes gradually widen and the way his mouth opens and then closes in surrender as if he wants to recite a spell but realizes it is too late.

Minho’s back hits the dragon’s, and then Jisung falls heavily right on top of him. Instinctively, Minho’s arms go up to wrap around Jisung’s waist. This is a very wet awkward mess, he thinks, but also _warm_ because there is literally another body on top of his own and it kind of feels nice because it’s been so long since Minho’s had physical contact with anyone else.

And Jisung looks absolutely mortified, which erases the possibility of Minho laughing the entire thing off. The witch goes to push himself up but a tail comes thumping down on his back and he is unable to. 

“Oh my god,” Jisung says, and Minho can almost feel his chest pounding against his own. “I am so sorry.” 

“Your cheeks are red,” Minho points out, like the mature adult he is. Whoops. 

Jisung closes his eyes like the action will cause the situation to magically correct itself. While Minho is aware that Jisung can perform magic, this does not happen. 

Jisung sighs painfully and his eyes open back again and— _oh yeah—_ his face is almost right above Minho’s own. Now Minho can feel his own cheeks warming; Jisung’s eyes are iridescent—like they’re reflecting the shifting shades of blue from Lir’s scales—and his lips are red and wet and slick hair swept back from the water and _okay,_ Minho needs to do something before those thoughts go any further.

“On three we’ll roll off together,” he breathes. “There’s no way one tail can stop both of us from moving, right?”

“Okay.” Jisung gulps and Minho’s eyes inadvertently follow the movement. _Not the time,_ Minho tells himself. “This way,” he adds, pointing to Minho’s left where Lir’s wings aren’t in the way as much. 

“Then… One… two… three. Go!” Minho whisper-shouts. He rolls to the side and pushes Jisung with him—Lir’s tail resists for a moment but finally relents and brings itself up—and they both go toppling into the water. 

The dragon’s tail chases Jisung and Minho as they drop off his back but ultimately hits the water with a disappointed smack. 

Both of them resurface and immediately Jisung is pulling himself out of the pool.  
  
“Let’s forget that ever happened,” he quickly tells Minho. Then he freezes on the pool’s edge, turning around to face the other.

Minho freezes as well, because he isn’t stupid and he can practically see the way the gears are turning in Jisung’s head. “No,” Minho says. “No,” he repeats, “you are not wiping my memory.”

“That was so embarrassing though,” Jisung all but whines, dragging a hand down his still-pink face.

“Erase your own memories, then,” Minho tells him. “I don’t want you tampering with mine.”

“I can’t even do that,” Jisung sadly replies.

“I figured,” Minho says. “So leave the past in the past, okay?”

“Okay,” Jisung laughs nervously, but is true to his word and makes no move to use his magic on Minho. “I think I’m gonna give Lir the silent treatment for the rest of the afternoon,” he decides. If Lir hears him or not, Minho doesn’t know, as the dragon has submerged himself completely in the water, casually pressed to the bottom of the pool like a flounder. 

“You do that,” Minho agrees, collecting his belongings. “And I am going home. Think I’ve had enough excitement for the day.”

“Right,” Jisung says quietly, and Minho really does _not_ need to think about how he can practically see Jisung’s face falling even if he is behind him. 

_Fool,_ Minho thinks, but—it’s almost like he’s under a spell even though he really isn’t—he is already turning around and walking back over toward Jisung. 

“I’m not leaving because of… because of what just happened,” Minho states. “I’m leaving because I’m going to go home and cook myself a nice dinner and properly dry off, okay?”

(Why is he even doing this… Jisung doesn’t really need an explanation.)

“Oh, okay,” Jisung says, brightening. “Let me make you dinner then! I owe you anyway, I keep saying I’m gonna treat you to dinner but I never do. Please?”  
  
Minho meets Jisung’s imploring eyes. 

That’s a bad idea. 

He looks away. 

But the next thing in his vision is Lir, who has now taken to peeping his head out of the pool, snout just propped up over the edge. The dragon’s eyes are also pleading, adorably shiny and wide (yes, Minho never thought he’d describe an eight-foot-tall dragon as adorable, but he just did).

 _Dammit,_ Minho thinks. _This is a conspiracy._

“Alright,” he says, heaving a dramatic sigh.

Lir’s wings give the water a hearty and enthusiastic slap, and… well… Minho gives up on trying to dry off. Or go home. 

3\. Lir may sometimes be up to no good but _wow_ he has some interesting capabilities. 

Minho supposes he should have expected it from the moment Jisung delivered those magical chocolates to him, but he’s not anticipating any extravagant dinner from Jisung. 

However, not one to be left out on the fun, Lir takes part in the cooking process even from outside. 

Minho helps Jisung as he can—chopping and washing vegetables and preparing the meat. But not even seconds after he has filled up a pot and set it on the stove, the water is already boiling.

Minho stares out the window. Lir smirks at him. It’s just a crooked grin, but Minho thinks it’s the dragon equivalent of a smirk.

 _Right. Water dragon,_ he thinks, weakly. _Magical water dragon._

They end up eating outside as the sun starts to set after Jisung feeds Lir, despite his earlier words about giving the dragon the silent treatment; it seems like neither of them can really get mad at each other.

The food is warm and tasty and just perfectly cooked—Minho suspects this may be Lir’s touch—and Minho can’t even regret not heading back home earlier. 

Truth be told, this is practically his second home now, anyway.

(And if Lir's tail comes darting out of the water and not-so-subtly nudges Minho's chair closer to Jisung's, neither of them speak a word about it.)

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (hahaha can you tell I like dragons)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ **Note:** there is one slightly intense scene in this chapter—there are brief threats of violence, but nobody is hurt.]

_I’m trying out a new spell! No key needed, just try the doorknob :DD,_ the note plastered to the front door reads. The edges of the paper are bulging and stiff, the evident result of water damage—and probably Lir’s contribution.

Minho grins to himself; after the first couple times Jisung had just told Minho to use the spare key under the doormat to let himself in. But Minho kept insisting that someday he was going to get robbed if he put the key in such a blatant spot, to which Jisung had stubbornly wrinkled his nose at him but complied. Although it seems that this morning Jisung has a change of plans.

Minho slowly turns the doorknob, not sure what he’s supposed to expect. There is no resistance and the door easily clicks open, accompanied at once by a tiny burst of mist.

Alright then. Minho’s grin slowly widens—it’s that sort of foolish grin he’s grown so familiar with lately, reserved for the actions of a certain dragon—as he just _knows_ Lir helped out with this spell. That dragon really cannot resist putting a touch of water absolutely everywhere.

Today it is nearing the end of September, and for the first time, Minho’s wearing a light jacket and long pants since the air finally has a bit of a chill to it. He’s actually kind of wary to engage with Lir since he knows that if he gets wet he’ll be left cold afterward and the sun won’t be as direct for him to quickly dry off. So maybe today Minho’s just a bit jealous of Jisung’s cloak—not only does it provide extra warmth, but it surely must shield him from all the water that goes flying around when Lir’s feeling playful.

But Jisung isn’t decked out in all black today. Minho finds him in the backyard, wearing a grey hoodie over loose blue pants, and bent over a backpack that he is packing various items into. For once, Lir is also out of the water and mostly dry, sitting placidly in the grass and tail swishing side-to-side.

“What’s with the door spell? And what happened to the forest-hiding attire?” Minho asks, briefly giving Lir a rub between his horns when the dragon cranes his neck forward to greet him.

“Ah! The door should only open for authorized personnel,” Jisung tells him, sounding especially satisfied. “Just me and you—it’ll be our own secret!”

Minho laughs, teasing. “I feel so special.”

“Well—yeah, you are!” Jisung defiantly replies, wrestling a bottle of water into a far-too-small side pocket. “I’d have to go through so much trouble if I didn’t have you here helping out on these weekends.” Then he pauses. “But… anyway, speaking of that…”

The smile from his voice is gone as Jisung straightens himself up, giving Minho a long, unreadable stare. “No meeting this month.”

“Oh,” Minho replies, and tries not to appear disappointed—because he had been looking forward to hanging out with Lir this weekend after a month booked full of teaching—as he evenly meets Jisung’s eyes. “Then why didn’t you tell me? Why am I still here?”

Jisung withers a little under Minho’s unwavering gaze. “Well… I was hoping you might join us for a day trip?” He slowly responds. His fingers subconsciously tug at the ends of his hoodie sleeves, and Minho’s heart does that thing where it drops for just the slightest of seconds.

“A trip?” He carefully clarifies, aware of the way Jisung diffidently waits for a response, as well as the way Lir’s eyes purposely flick to him when he speaks.

“Yeah!” Sensing that Minho is not going to decline him outright, Jisung trods on with more fervor. “I’m gonna take Lir to the beach—you should come with us!”

“Oh,” Minho says again. “Wait. The beach? The ocean is like… over a two hour drive away.”

“Ah,” Jisung replies, eyes lustrous, “But you forget we have this guy.” He reaches over to pat Lir’s back and the dragon hums—like the low-strung sound of a bass—under Jisung’s touch.

“You’re gonna fly on him?” Minho asks, and he feels an exciting mix of anticipation and nervousness at the prospect.

“ _We’re_ going to fly on him,” Jisung emphasizes. “The only time I stuffed Lir into a car was when I moved houses—I would have just flown him over but he couldn’t carry all the furniture with him.”

Then Jisung shoots him a pointed look. “Also, remember? I asked you a while back and you said you would!” His voice has taken on a hopeful tone, and, well, Minho is not one to back down from his words. And while flying certainly seems scary… Minho kind of still wants to spend time with Lir, and wouldn’t mind a day out with his neighbor, either… and… oh, who is he kidding. His answer was set from the start.

“I did say that,” Minho affirms, finally allowing his mouth to form a tiny indulgent smile.

The effect it has on Jisung is infectious—his face lights up into an exuberant grin.

Before he can say anything else, Jisung is throwing his arms around his back, enveloping him in a warm hug. For a moment Minho gets a whiff of the ever-so-familiar stench of pool water and fish, but it is laced with the herbs that he knows Jisung often sprinkles into his brews to make them smell better, and this makes him hold on just a little longer. When Jisung pulls back his cheeks have a slight rosy tinge to them but he ducks away to attend to his backpack again, leaving Minho with only the lingering trace of mint and lavender. Minho sneaks a peek and sees that delight is still clearly painted on Jisung’s face, and that swiftly fills him with almost an unreasonably excessive amount of warmth.

In his peripheral vision, Minho catches Lir eyeing them and he glares meaningfully at the dragon. _Don’t you try anything,_ he attempts to communicate with narrowed eyebrows. He thinks Lir gets the message, but he also thinks that Lir has pointedly decided to ignore it since the dragon turns his head away to stare at the fence with interest.

Minho can’t help the gentle chuckle that escapes his lips. Lir will be Lir, he thinks, and silently hopes the dragon doesn’t give them too much trouble.

“So,” Jisung begins, zipping up his bag, “Here’s how this is going to work. Lir really can’t fly that long out of water so we’re going to make a pit stop at a small lake halfway which should re-energize him. But since Lir is faster and we’re flying we can take pretty much the most direct route and get there in… maybe a bit over an hour?”

“Uh… okay,” Minho nods, giving Lir a thoughtful look. “We’re just gonna go like this?”

“Nope,” Jisung says. “C’mon.” He waves Minho back inside and into the garage—which would be the first time Minho’s stepped foot in here.

 _Jisung wasn’t wrong,_ Minho notes with amusement. The garage really is a sort of mess, clippings of plants and herbs strewn across the floor and flowerpots scattered on every surface imaginable, from the ground to all the shelves that line the walls. There are innumerable jars and containers stacked on the shelves as well, but at least they seem to be labelled—Minho sees the names of familiar spices as well as more interesting titles such as “stun potion” and “energy!!!,” scrawled on the small vials. There is a tiny garden in the corner where the light from the upper windows of the main garage door can hit the dirt just right, as well as something that just looks like a really big cooking pot, double-handled and lidded and sitting on a table on the side of the room.

Jisung navigates the clutter with ease, and Minho thinks the garage has probably been in this state of disarray since he moved in. From inside a chest that is sitting under a dark pile of clothes—Jisung’s witchy garb, he thinks—Jisung digs out a giant leathery thing. It sort of looks like a big mat with a various assortment of straps dangling from its sides.

“This is a saddle,” Jisung tells him. “Technically, we’d probably go flying off Lir once he starts flying remotely fast, but his magic should keep us on his back regardless. This is just a precaution in case something goes wrong.”

They head back outside, and when Lir sees what Jisung is carrying the dragon pads over to them so Jisung can throw the saddle over his back. Jisung deftly ties the saddle to the dragon in two places—once under the dragon’s belly and a second time at the base of its neck, and then checks the knots to make sure they are secure.

Then Lir squats down low and Jisung ties his backpack onto one of these straps on the side before hopping onto the dragon’s back, throwing a leg over the saddle and climbing on. He tugs onto two of the loosely hanging straps in the front, hooking his hands into the loops at the end.

“Like this,” He demonstrates, casting Minho an eager smile. “You try it.”

Minho clambers on far less fluidly than he would like considering the muscle control he should have from dance, but eventually manages to situate himself behind Jisung, who offers him two other loops to grab onto.

“You probably won’t have to hold onto these too hard since Lir makes things easy for us, but make sure you have them just in case,” Jisung tells him again.

“Or you could just hold onto me,” he adds, grinning. Lir bobs his head agreeably at that, and Minho sighs, feigning exasperation. Lir’s silly behaviors have kind of just become a running joke at this point—one that neither he nor Jisung ever directly acknowledge but will off-handedly reference with amusement in their voices.

“Somehow that makes me less inclined to do that,” Minho dryly remarks.

“Sure, whatever suits you,” Jisung tells him, equally teasing. “I’d zip up your jacket though so the ends don’t fly everywhere.”

“Alright.” Minho has barely pulled the zipper up when he feels Lir’s body shifting under him.

The dragon flaps his wings once without warning, sending a large gust of air swirling around them. Then Minho feels himself dipping lower as the dragon’s legs bend and then push off the ground, and suddenly they are in the air and Jisung’s backyard and pool fall away from them.

Minho screams. Just once. In his defense, it isn’t _that_ loud—he didn’t think they were going to take off right away. But rather embarrassingly, his arms find themselves around Jisung’s waist, hands somehow still clutching the leather loops as well as the fabric of Jisung’s hoodie.

Lir flaps his wings repeatedly, propelling them up at an angle, and then at some point they are flying flatly again. As suddenly as the rush of air had come whipping past them, it fades out into a distant murmur and Minho allows himself to relax just a bit.

“See?” Jisung tells him, and even though Minho knows they are still travelling quite fast Lir makes the air seem calm up here—Jisung is speaking normally, not screaming into the wind or anything, and it is a strange sensation, like they are in their own separate bubble. “Lir’s got us,” he says, patting the dragon’s back.

Lir is now coasting, wings flapping leisurely every now and then, but they are gliding rather low to the ground. And though it is a cool day, the skies are blue and vacant of cloud cover. “Nobody’s going to look up and see this, are they?” Minho warily asks. He still has his arms around Jisung, because… _because._ It feels safer.

“Nah, Lir’s extending his invisibility to all of us. Unless another witch looks up,” Jisung shrugs. “I’ve seen dragons passing overhead before.”

Minho hasn’t. And he probably would have never seen a dragon at all had Lir not decided to reveal himself.

… And Minho isn’t going to think about _why_ Lir decided to do that, because he has a bad suspicion it involves the dragon finding great entertainment in his and his neighbor’s interactions.

So Minho settles for watching the terrain below them pass by—the residential neighborhoods pittering out into scattered homes and small hills that stretch on for a while—and perhaps finds himself just a bit comforted by the warmth from Jisung’s back and the fact that Lir is trying his hardest to make this a pleasant ride.

Some time later, the dragon starts sinking into a slow dive, flapping less and less frequently until he comes to almost an effortless and smooth landing on the ground. His claws dig into the dirt and Minho bumps slightly against Jisung’s back but he still feels very secure.

After they slide off, Lir runs off into the lake, submerging himself completely so that occasionally only his horns or part of his wings stick out of the water.

“He’s the new Loch Ness Monster,” Minho comments when Lir’s big blue form comes emerging from the water—first his head, then his neck and wingtips, the rest of his body resurfacing bit-by-bit.

“Wanna be his first victim?” Jisung asks, and then gives Minho a light push towards the lakeshore, right as Lir spreads his wings out and does his full body shake to dry off.

Luckily, Minho isn’t caught in too much of the flying water, but he still glares at Jisung. “I’ll remember that,” he says in the most emotionless voice he can without breaking character.

Jisung fakes shivering, covering his wide mouth in mock-terror. “Scary,” he says. “Maybe you’re the real monster.”

Minho returns the sentiment with an overly saccharine smile, laughing when Jisung edges past him to climb back onto Lir first.

  
  
  


The second leg of their flight passes without any problems, and soon the ocean slowly approaches them—Minho can hear the distant echoes of waves lapping at the sand and crashing against the rocks.

Perks of arriving on a dragon mean that you can access the most secluded areas, and Lir descends onto a beach that is separated from the main crowd, surrounded on both sides by protruding cliffs.

It’s been a while since Minho has been to the beach, and for a moment after they land he just sits there, listening to the push and pull of the ocean as it gradually wears away at the shore. Maybe he spaces out for too long because Lir unceremoniously dumps him in the sand.

Minho props himself up into a sitting position as Jisung unties the saddle from Lir and throws it somewhere behind them in the sand. The dragon’s tail whips around impatiently and Minho has to duck out of the way so he isn’t slapped in the face.

Then he feels a hand taking his own as Jisung pulls him up and tugs him towards the water, and Minho quickly has a sense of foreboding that he is going to get very wet despite his inclination to stay dry today. But Jisung jerks him to the side at the last second, and Minho feels a huge _whoosh_ of wind whipping at his hair and sees a deep blue blur—sparkling enough to rival the sunlit ocean itself—as Lir hurtles himself past them in his eagerness to meet the incoming waves.

“Someone’s excited,” Minho says, grinning as he watches Lir effusively stirring up his own tides with his wings, and can’t help the way his words sound so fond for a _dragon,_ of all things.

“And you aren’t?” Jisung asks, and when Minho turns to him Jisung is wearing his own matching grin as his eyes follow the dragon’s movements. Lately, Minho swears it is this unforgettable grin that has started to worm its way into his mind—the grin that shows just how gone Jisung is for the dragon—broad and enchanting and yet somehow also reserved, as if Jisung is trying to contain all of his love inside. (It doesn’t work, because Jisung’s eyes give him away instead). Minho helplessly stares at his bunched-up cheeks and the upward quirk of his lips, and with a sinking realization he thinks Lir may not be the only who’s started to take up space in his heart.

“Come on,” Jisung continues. “Just admit that you like the ocean too. I saw it in your eyes.”

“Well, I see it in your eyes, too,” Minho says defensively.

“And I wasn’t denying anything,” Jisung is still smiling when he finally turns to face him. This smile he regards Minho with is different—fainter but still just as telling and honest—and Minho decides he likes this one too. It also doesn’t escape him how the cool wind has also strewn Jisung’s hair attractively across his forehead, but that’s neither here nor there.

“I wasn’t denying anything, either,” Minho says, allowing himself to sound more wounded than he really feels. “You just made it seem like I was!”

“Then what else do you see in my eyes?” Jisung asks him, and Minho is taken aback by the unprecedented question. Especially because Minho had _just_ been looking at said eyes when he really had no reason to.

“What? How is that even related?”

“Minho. Minho, Minho, Minho,” Jisung shakes his head condescendingly. Infuriatingly. “I see the _ocean_ in your eyes,” Jisung continues matter-of-factly, then suddenly stepping in front of him—roaming gaze finding its way straight to his soul—and Minho hates the way his heart leaps in his throat and the way he freezes, mimicking the ever-so-still cliffs around them. The cool seaside breeze seems to do nothing to ease the heat rushing to his face.

Jisung pauses dramatically. “And!” Another, longer pause. Jisung leans forward, barely able to contain himself. “I see you going all _mushy_ and _soft_ for a dragon.” His voice has taken on a cutesy and higher-pitched teasing tone, and he tiptoes into Minho’s face for the full intent of his obnoxiousness to be received.

Minho has an urge to push Jisung and his cocky grin away. “Well…well,” He struggles with his words and also struggles desperately to not look right at Jisung (he has now taken to wiggling his eyebrows rather ludicrously).

Then: “How could I not?”

These words are spoken quieter, but they are really the full truth. Lir may be a dragon, but honestly he feels like the equivalent of a big, loveable…pet? No… not really, since Lir could never be fully tamed. But definitely a friend.

“Awww, Minho,” Jisung drags out, pouting (this is unfairly endearing, Minho thinks) and patting his head in a condoling manner… and that is the last straw. “It’s okay. I won’t make fun of you anymore. Anyway, I’m sure Lir appreciates the extra love.”

“Jisung,” Minho says, face burning stupidly as he pries Jisung’s hand off his head.

“What?” Jisung’s regards him in a way that is simultaneously gleeful and goofy.

“Shut up.” Without warning, Minho presses his hands to Jisung’s shoulders, twirling him around to face the ocean. Then he gives Jisung a hearty shove toward the water right as a particularly big wave comes rushing toward them, revelling in the way Jisung yelps loudly in surprise and tries to jump back, only to splash water over his ankles and worsen his doom. Minho is already running off, leaving Jisung standing in freshly-wet sand.

“You said you liked the ocean!” Minho calls out behind him, a safe distance away.

“You too!” Jisung yells back, bending down to tear off his shoes and socks before he is running towards Minho at full speed.

Instead of moving away Minho plops his butt down stubbornly in the sand, smirking as Jisung’s smile drops off his face.  
  
“Hey, not fair,” Jisung says, coming to a stop in front of him.

“Too bad.” Minho cheekily replies. And then, when he notices the sight behind Jisung, the laughter comes tumbling out. “Just stay here for a few more seconds,” Minho tells him, smile only growing wider as he sees Lir stalking out of the water.

“Why?” Jisung asks, placing his hands on his hips as he scowls down at Minho.

And then his eyes are widening comically as he hears the heavy thump of dragon footfalls. Jisung turns around just in time to be met with a mouthful of salt water being sprayed at him, and throws his hands up too late—the water ends up all over his face, dripping down onto his hoodie.

“You guys!” Jisung wails, blinking water out of his eyes. “I can’t believe this. My dragon and my neighbor are teaming up against me.”

Minho gives Jisung a mocking pat on the head just as Jisung had done earlier. “It’s okay, Jisung,” he tells him. “Lir’s just showing you that he loves you.”

Lir, now behind them, snorts in response. It’s (probably) a fond snort, though.

“But…” Jisung starts, and then a smug grin is forming on his face. “Okay,” he says, and that’s when Minho starts to get a bad feeling because a. Jisung looks absolutely duplicitous and b. The dragon is out of his sight.

Minho ducks his head down just as a shot of water comes flying at him from behind, but it is useless because his hair still suffers the brunt of the blow and when he bends back up he is dripping water onto his face and Jisung is ecstatic, like he has just won the lottery.

Minho sighs. “Congratulations, you two got me.”

“Lir’s just spreading his love!” Jisung singsongs back at him, and cheerfully stoops down to draw a big sloppy heart in the sand with his fingers. As he leans back to inspect his work, the dragon chooses to step all over the heart—completely ruining it—and Minho cackles at the forlorn expression on Jisung’s face.

“You know, sometimes I think Lir is starting to like you more than me,” Jisung says, wiping a nonexistent tear off his face. “I should just transfer my ownership to you.”

“And leave me stuck to look after this chaos all seven days of the week? No thanks,” Minho prods. That earns him another spurtful of water over his head, courtesy of Lir, but he had sort of seen it coming.

“At least you acknowledge that it is chaos,” Jisung sniffs self-righteously, dropping into the sand next to Minho. “It’s hard work, living with a dragon. But!” Jisung sticks up a commandeering hand before he too can be doused with more water. “I still love him.”

 _I know,_ Minho thinks but does not say. _It’s so terribly obvious that you wouldn’t have to ever tell anyone and they’d know it the moment they saw you and your dragon together._

Lir, however, takes the words in stride, nuzzling his snout into Jisung’s back. Jisung leans away from the wet touch, laughing. “That’s what I mean. Like… go back to the water. Stop bothering me,” he says, and Lir does indeed slink back towards the sea, but not before turning back halfway to glower at them, affronted.

“Yup. That’s my dragon,” Jisung says, turning to Minho like he is telling his story for the news report. He brings his hands up to his chest, clutching his heart dramatically. “But I really wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Minho can only smile softly at that, because he can hear the affection in Jisung’s voice and yet he doesn’t even need to hear this verbal confirmation to see the way he cares for the dragon. Jisung has an incredibly big heart and it shows, and just thinking about it stirs up emotions in Minho’s own chest that he hasn’t felt in so long.

 _This is starting to be about Jisung as much as it is about the dragon,_ Minho thinks.

But the revelation washes over him and he feels surprisingly calm about it. Perhaps it is because sitting in the sand next to Jisung and watching Lir romp around in the water fills him with an indescribable amount of joy, so much that he feels like he is overflowing and wants to share more of his own love himself. And perhaps it is because Minho thinks he wouldn’t mind giving up all of his weekends for this—this addictive happiness brought on by his coexistence with others who are teeming with just as much warmth.

It is a buoyant feeling, as Minho’s heart swells immensely and he lets it be carried out to sea.

\---

Sappy thoughts aside, Minho thinks he takes it fairly well.

After the beach trip, not much changes, or at least nothing that he really makes the others aware of. It’s not much of a secret that he enjoys the dragon’s company. But maybe they don’t realize that he doesn’t really mind Jisung’s company either—his foolish smiles and pretend-annoyance for Lir. (They have that in common anyway. Both… completely under Lir’s charms.)

At the very least Jisung doesn’t really seem to realize anything has changed.

But Minho finds it a bit harder to just brush off Lir's mischievous antics. He’s pretty sure the dragon was just doing it for his own amusement to begin with, but now he thinks that Lir may be onto him. Lir goes about his very unsubtle business as usual, but there is a sage glint in his eyes that sometimes makes Minho want to confess it all and to a dragon who cannot even reply back.

 **how’s life,** Minho once texts Jisung when he is bored.

There is no reply, but hours later Jisung shows up at Minho’s door. “Ever since I got that text Lir has been whining at me and shooting water at the fence that separates our houses. Why don’t you come by and visit and maybe it’ll shut him up.”

So Minho does, and maybe living in his neighbor’s house becomes more of a weekly thing, even when Jisung only has meetings once a month. But Jisung doesn’t complain, and Lir only showers him in love and affection (and water) so Minho indulges himself more and more, even as the winter days get shorter and shorter and the water he is inevitably splashed with gets colder and colder.  
  


\---

Once, after a busy day of teaching at work, Jisung invites him over for dinner. It is the cusp of spring and the days are beginning to warm up again, so afterward they sit in the backyard as the sun slips below the horizon and darkness creeps in. Lir grows so still sitting in the pool that Minho suspects the dragon has fallen asleep. The soft and low rhythms of faint snoring he soon hears confirms it.

Sometime later Jisung is animatedly telling him a story about one of his eccentric customers who had asked for multiple invisibility potions—to use them to not only steal a _rabbit_ from a pet store but to also use the rabbit as part of some vanishing magic trick—and while Minho laughs along he can’t help it and eventually dozes off as well, slumping unconscious in his seat.

But he is also a light sleeper, so he’s surprised when he wakes up on an unfamiliar bed tucked under equally unfamiliar but warm covers and sees the first rays of dawn just beginning to peek through the blinds. He wonders if Jisung had moved him here with the aid of magic, because he doesn’t remember stirring at all.

Then he hears the faint puff of an exhaled breath, and he rolls around to see the said witch’s cheek smushed against a crumpled pillowcase. His blanket is half-astray and his hands are curled into his chest, loose white shirt rising and falling with his movements and lips parted in a faint smile on his face. It is strange to see him not in constant motion for once, and peaceful Jisung emulates the appearance of an angel, eyelashes splayed across his cheeks like tiny rays of sun.

Minho is so mesmerized that his hand grows a mind of its own and reaches up over the covers, but even his hand doesn’t know what to do. It hovers over Jisung’s face for a moment, and Minho feels the next warm exhale tickle his palm, before he schools his hand back under the blankets to form a tight and grounding fist, his heart clenching in a way that can only mean one thing.

Maybe Minho decides to just stare at the sight until he falls back asleep, dreaming that Jisung looked at him the same way when he carried Minho’s own sleeping form inside.

And then he is promptly late for work.

Because—obviously—he has no alarms set here in Jisung’s house. And Jisung’s job involves magic and is a bit unconventional so he doesn’t exactly set alarms for himself.

Jisung only blinks groggily at him when Minho rushes out an apology for having woken him up. Then he tugs on the shoes that he realized Jisung had thoughtfully removed at some point last evening, and bolts out without another word.

  
  
  


“Don’t worry about it, it was just an hour,” Hyunjin tells him later. “But are you really okay? You look like you’re having a midlife crisis.”

 _No,_ Minho wants to say. _A dragon stole my heart and then a witch did too._ But that’s not really the sort of information you divulge to your casual friends at work, so he shrugs instead.

\---

Okay, yeah, so maybe Minho doesn’t take it _that_ well because the last time he caught feelings was years back in college and he’s forgotten how hard it is to refrain from letting out every single one of his carefully-bottled thoughts out all at once.

Lir makes it kind of hard, but Lir’s also been doing it from the start so he gets a free pass. No, Minho’s fondness is not showing.

But these days Jisung is the one who makes it really hard, even though he is definitely, completely, unaware of it. The way his eyebrows furrow sometimes when he’s thinking about asking Minho to accompany him to the market to load his van up with fish, the way he juts out his lower lip on the rare chance that he cannot find the exact ingredient he is looking for in the garage, the way his hands are constantly searching for something to do and the way half of those times his hands end up on Lir’s forehead as he gives the dragon loving pats—every single thing makes it harder to endure.

And the catch is that Minho can’t even be upset about it. Both of the residents next door have consumed the non-working hours of his life, and he really just… lets it happen.

Jisung jokes once that Minho has basically become Lir’s other parent. It is grossly domestic, but with how often Minho frequents the house nowadays he can’t even deny it. He can’t help the stupid grin that forms on his face either, even if it is said only in jest.

So in his head Minho deems himself certified dragon-sitter as well as certified dragon parent, and, well, life moves on as usual.

\---

But today something is amiss.

It’s the first meeting Jisung’s left for since spring officially started. The sun brings more of a cheer to the air and the flowers in Jisung’s backyard are in full bloom (or what’s left of the flowers—some of them look suspiciously gnawed upon, by a large creature… a dragon, perhaps). So overall Minho is in a good mood as he hums a tune to himself and reads a book under the shade of the umbrella and Lir does that funny thing where he pretends to be a flatfish stuck to the bottom of the pool.

All is well—all _was_ well.

But then Lir shoots out of the pool in a frenzy, hurriedly shaking water everywhere with no consideration at all and Minho groans when he sees water droplets staining the pages of his book.

“Lir, come on,” he says. Occasionally the dragon gets in a mood but usually this can be solved by the prospect of snacks. “Are you hungry?”

Lir shakes his head intently—it’s probably the first time he has gotten such a quick and pointed response from the dragon—and that’s how Minho first knows something is wrong.

Minho sets his waterlogged book to the side to worry about later. “What’s up?” he asks, as if the dragon is going to be able to tell him.

Lir steps around the pool, jutting his snout against the side door to the garage. He pushes the door once, and then twice, and then whines and scratches his front claws against the doorknob but fails to get enough leverage to turn it. When he tries again and fails, Lir nearly headbutts the garage door.

“Okay, that’s enough— _enough_!” Minho has to shout. “Calm down, I’ll… I’ll go inside the garage. Is that what you want?”

The dragon spins around, stares directly into Minho’s soul, and nods solemnly.

“Okay. Okay,” Minho keeps saying. Whatever’s bothering Lir, it seems serious.

The doorknob turns seamlessly for Minho, since it had also been spelled by Jisung to do so. Minho enters the garage and finds that its state is pretty much the same since all the other times he had been inside—Jisung knows it like the back of his hand but this is probably the one remaining part of his house that is still a jumbled puzzle of clutter to Minho.

Lir starts to follow him inside, barely squeezing through the door, and Minho wonders if this is a bad decision.

“Um.. can you just sit here and try not to hit anything?” Minho asks.

Lir nods again, but his tail thumps the ground frantically.

Just one problem: Minho doesn’t really know what he should be doing here. Or what Lir has gotten so worked up about.

It’s worth a shot, so Minho sends a quick text to Jisung.

 **Minho:** lir seems really worried about smth, he made me go into the garage but idk what’s wrong… do you have any idea?

Minho turns back to the dragon. “Help?”

Lir growls at him and Minho shrinks back, actually scared of the dragon for the first time in a long time. “Calm down,” he tries again. “Just… try and direct me to what I should be doing?”

Lir growls again and then stamps the ground, clearly impatient, but his head moves side to side as he scans the garage. After a moment of silence, the dragon leans to his left to poke an old wooden chest.

“Oh!” Minho realizes, hurrying to open its clasp. “The saddle?” He lugs the big piece of leather out of the chest and it dangles limply from his hands.

Wait.

“Do you want me to… fly on you?” Minho asks.

Lir grins just a little and Minho smiles back, relieved. Then his smile drops off his face because _what_ there is no way he can fly a dragon himself. He’s only flown once, for goodness’ sake, and that was with Jisung guiding him.

Right. Jisung.

Panicking, Minho dials Jisung’s number. But the witch doesn’t pick up and Minho is left with a dial tone and a voicemail that Minho has actually never heard (because Jisung always picks up his occasional calls) and seems far too cheery for the situation.

_Hello~ this is Jisung! Sorry that I’m busy and am unable to take your call, but leave a voicemail and I’ll be sure to get back to you later!_

“Fuck,” Minho hisses into the voicemail because _later_ is not a luxury he has _now,_ and then hangs up.

And then the key clicks into place, because, _because,_ even though this only applies to a rather unimpressive total of ten calls, Jisung has always picked up when Minho dialed his number. Not one time was Minho left with no response.

“Wait, Lir,” Minho asks, his heart dropping heavily as the realization dawns on him. “Does this have to with Jisung?”

Lir bobs his head rapidly, and Minho is starting to share his distressed sentiment.

“Great. Fuck,” Minho says again. “So…” He forces himself to think back to their beach trip, and places the saddle over Lir’s back, eyes darting over all the loose straps before he unsurely grabs a couple pairs of them and ties knots (double knots; untying them later will be a much less stressful problem to think about anyway) under Lir’s belly and neck. “Oh god, if I did this wrong, please don’t let me fall off,” Minho says to the dragon and crosses his fingers.

The dragon dips his head respectfully so at least Minho feels a bit reassured. “Okay, you go back outside first and I’ll be there in a moment, alright?”

After Lir has left, Minho scans the shelves. If Jisung is in some sort of trouble then Minho doesn’t want to be completely helpless either. Amidst the labeled rows of vials—each the size of his fingers—the “invisibility” one and “stun potion” catch his eyes. He knows Lir will keep him invisible in the sky, but once he’s off the dragon he doesn’t want to just throw himself into danger if it is truly serious. He’s never used any of these so it could go very wrong but he also pockets a stun potion in case he needs to defend himself. Then he stuffs one more of each into his pocket because better to be safe than sorry.

Minho steps back out and closes the garage door behind him. Lir is already squatting, waiting for Minho to climb on.

“Just don’t drop me,” Minho tells the dragon again, hooking a leg over the saddle and taking two of the looped straps in his hands.

Lir immediately leaps up into the sky, beating his wings faster than the previous time and taking off in the opposite direction. Minho clutches his reins especially tightly but the flight is still smooth, and after a while he begins to relax.

Maybe half an hour later, Lir starts descending behind a patch of large buildings that look like old warehouses which are dull grey and have paint peeling. Minho has never felt so lost—he’s not sure what to look for and he doesn’t see any signs of life—no people, definitely no people adorned in cloaks and all-black, and _definitely_ no other dragons.

Minho decides to take one of the invisibility potions just in case. He pops the small cork and downs the liquid in one gulp—it is only maybe a tablespoon but it feels like cold ice spreading down his throat. A weird fizzling sensation begins in his stomach and spreads out to his arms, legs, head. And soon Minho cannot see himself.

Even Lir looks momentarily confused until Minho speaks up, so Minho is assuming that nobody, even magical creatures and people, cannot see him as well

“Where to?” Minho asks.

The dragon starts slinking off towards one of the warehouses, legs bent and evidently trying to keep a low profile.

In any other situation, Minho would probably be one of the first to bolt, but he follows the dragon with his heart thumping loudly.

But maybe because he is incredibly worried for Jisung, and maybe the invisibility makes him less scared.

Lir quietly nudges one of the side doors and Minho sees that it is just barely open—a tiny crack between the edge of the door and the wall, and a sliver of space to peer through.

Minho pats Lir’s back as he passes the dragon to let him know that he is right there and brings his face to the crack, squinting.

What he can see of the warehouse seems to be empty and pretty dark—there are windows at the top but they only let some light in.

And then he hears something.

“You’re so stupid,” a voice says. It is faint and far away—probably coming from the back of the warehouse, but it is unmistakably the voice of Han Jisung.

At this, Lir’s ears perk up too, but the dragon seems hesitant to enter.

“I’ll go first,” Minho says, feeling unusually brave. He grips the edge of the door and tugs on it so carefully and silently, watching as the opening gets bigger inch by inch until it is just big enough for him to shimmy through.

Then he slides against the walls, careful to stay in the shadows. Now that he has a view of the other side of the warehouse, he can see shelves of stacked boxes and sacks piled against the other side, and thinks Jisung’s voice must be coming from behind one of the rows.

And then door _squeals_ as it returns to its previous position. Minho freezes, his lack of movement rivalling that of rock save for his very alive heart pounding in his throat.

“What was that noise?” Another male voice spits out, low and gritty and Minho decides he does not like the sound of it one bit. “Don’t even try to pull any tricks on me,” this person continues.

“I’m not doing anything—I just—this is so stupid! I don’t get your logic,” Jisung says again, and his voice is louder now. A lot louder, and Minho gets the sense that Jisung is trying to draw attention away from the sound of the door. “Dragons are our _friends,_ ” Jisung almost yells, and Minho takes the opportunity to dart across the open space to hide behind the first shelf of boxes.

“And they’d turn on you and kill you in a heartbeat,” the other voice aggressively returns.

“So, what? _You’re_ going to do that job instead?” Jisung retorts.

Minho stops in his tracks again. _What_ exactly did he just hear.

“I’m not going to kill you,” comes the other voice, eerily calm.

“But you want to kill my dragon,” Jisung snaps back. “Well—sorry if this upsets you, but I won’t let you.”

Minho ducks behind the second line of boxes. The voices are much louder now, and Minho thinks the two people are either in the next row or the one after.

“I know,” the other person returns.

“So you’re still going to kill _me,_ then,” Jisung says flatly.

“I’m not. But we all know how the stories go,” the other voice singsongs and Minho gets chills down his spine. “Threaten the rider and the dragon comes flying to save them. Right into the trap and my fingertips.”

“No way,” Jisung says. The words are gritted out so vehemently but now that he is closer Minho can hear the slight tremulous waver they take on.

 _Oh fuck,_ Minho thinks. He prays that Lir is still outside.

A burst of red light suddenly shoots out of the next row. It decks the entire warehouse in a sinister red glow and he hears the sound of frantic footsteps sliding around and Minho is now feeling quite scared.

“I’ve heard dragon scales are also sought after in the black markets,” the other person says, and Minho knows they are taunting Jisung.

Quietly, he tiptoes out of his row and has never been more thankful for magic and invisibility. Because now he is hidden in plain sight.

Between the third and fourth tall shelves of boxes, Jisung and another man are having a staredown. Both are cloaked in black, though Minho can only see the other person’s back. But he can see that Jisung’s arms are thrown out in front of his chest, palms facing the other man.

“The only attack a dragon would ever want to take part in is on people like you. So fuck you,” Jisung scoffs. The light Minho sees is blue and watery this time, and it comes from Jisung’s hands.

Only... this light falls into a sad glowing puddle on the ground halfway, and the man laughs—a raspy sort of maniacal laughter that bounces off the warehouse walls.

Minho thinks he needs to take action.

But then a sound echoes through the building.

The door screeches open, and Minho hears the loudest dragon roar he has ever heard—it is booming, raw and low and guttural, and he can only describe the emotion behind it as _furious._

In the dim lighting, Minho sees Jisung’s eyes widen in panic and the other man laughs again.

“See? I told you.”

“Lir, go away!” Jisung screams into the warehouse. “I’ve got this handled!” he adds, even though he clearly does not.

And then Jisung’s eyes grow even wider.

“Minho?” he whispers.

 _Oh no, oh no, oh shit fuck fuck fuck bad bad bad bad_ Minho can see himself again.

The man freezes. Jisung also freezes.

Minho does not freeze, digging into his pockets for his remaining vials.

It is a miracle that his trembling fingers are able to uncork all three things at once—because there is no time to figure out what is what—and he flings them all at the man just as he whirls around.

The man crumples to the ground and then vanishes.

“Stun and invisibility,” Minho croaks out, just as dragon footsteps come skidding to a halt in front of the shelves.

“What the fuck—thank you so much,” Jisung blurts, taking deep inhales, and then comes running at him. Minho is enveloped in a tight hug that knocks the air out of his lungs, and then he can breathe again as Jisung lets go and sprints past him.

“Are you okay?” Minho calls, trailing after him.  
  
“Yes—but let’s just get out of here first,” Jisung throws over his shoulder. Minho and Lir follow him out of the warehouse, and Jisung is quick to hop onto Lir’s back, before pulling Minho up behind him.  
  
Instead of flying, Lir traverses the streets, running past the warehouses to another building—one that is much better kept and painted a much warmer shade of light blue. There is a large parking lot in front of it, and Minho finds some amusement in the fact that most vehicles parked are large and boxy, and just like Jisung’s grey van, which he is still able to pick out in the crows from its make and model.

“I’m just gonna go let the others know about this,” Jisung slips off Lir’s back and darts into the building. Moments later he comes running back out, cape trailing behind him and flashing thumbs up at Minho.

“The main committee’s gonna go deal with that guy. The stun potion should last until they get there,” Jisung says, climbing back onto Lir. “I’m ditching the rest of the meetings because fuck that we’re just going back home. I’ll get my car back another day.”

“What happened?” Minho asks when they take off into the air again.

“I don’t know. The guy’s crazy. He wanted to kill any dragon he could get his hands on, or something,” Jisung mutters. “I guess it’s because it’s not as common for a witch to harbour dragons these days ever since… all the nurseries were attacked.”

Jisung takes a deep breath, then continues. “I stepped outside for a moment to take a call—that guy probably set it up—and then next thing I know he’s ambushing me and I’m being lugged off into some creepy building. The guy says he knows my parents used to own a nursery and says if I try to run away he’s gonna track down all their other old dragons instead… so I tried stalling but it wasn’t really working since he started to attack me. Then I tried to fight back and I realized this guy was _way_ more powerful so I started panicking.”

He turns around in the saddle to look back at Minho. “And then you saved me,” he says.

“Lir helped,” Minho replies, still trying to wrap his head around the events of the last hour.

“Of course,” Jisung murmurs softly. “He could probably sense something was wrong even from a hundred miles away.” He leans forward to hug the dragon’s neck. “This is why I love him so much,” he says, and stays that way—head buried into Lir’s neck until they land back in Jisung’s backyard.

“Fuck that guy. Dragons are amazing, and Lir is the best dragon to ever exist,” Jisung says, dropping to the ground.

Minho slides off next to him. “Can’t argue with that,” he agrees.

Lir eagerly slides back into the water of the pool, disregarding the saddle still attached to his back, and seems visibly re-energized already.

“And you’re the best neighbor to ever exist,” Jisung continues earnestly. “I- just— _thank you_.” His voice starts cracking and the unfazed facade Jisung had been keeping up since leaving the warehouse cracks with it as Jisung starts tearing up.

“I was so fucking scared,” Jisung admits, hiccuping. “And then I heard Lir and I thought maybe he’d be able to beat the guy up but I was also terrified that the guy would try to do something to Lir or even me—like you know, those illegal death hexes they used on the nurseries a while back. And then I see you appearing out of thin air and then you’re throwing my potions at the guy and it’s over and… thank you,” Jisung says yet again. “Thank you for caring for Lir all this time and for.. caring for me too, I guess.”

 _You’re welcome_ and _no problem_ seem too casual for the situation, so Minho pulls Jisung into a hug instead. And then a dripping-wet dragon head is butting its way into the middle of it.

“Yooo, group hug,” Jisung chokes out, one hand patting Lir’s shiny forehead and the other hand patting Minho’s back. Maybe they all get a little wet and maybe some of that water is really tears, but everything about it is so warm and it feels like they are a _family._

So the self-proclaimed dragon parent #2 allows his heart to throw itself completely overboard and into the deep end of the pool.

\---

Three days later, Minho comes back home to a mysterious, insistent _fwapping_ noise that resonates through the house. He opens the door to his backyard to see Lir, seated in the grass all nonchalant like nothing is wrong, long tail occasionally hitting the house walls as it absentmindedly swings around.

“Holy shit,” Minho can only say. “Why are you here?”

(No response.)

(Minho suspects that after last weekend’s events Lir is just checking up on him, though, and that almost makes his eyes water again.)

  
  
  


“Minho,” Jisung gasps out when he opens the door right as Minho was about to ring the bell. “I was just about to say, I don’t know where Lir—”

“Lir’s in my backyard,” Minho blurts out as fast as he can. Because the last thing Minho needs to see is Jisung all concerned again after the fiasco that happened just days ago.

The worried look on his face disappears, and Jisung breaks into relieved laughter. “He likes you that much, huh?”

“I guess so,” Minho helplessly shrugs. “Do you think he—”

“Flew over the fence? Or maybe hopped it? Probably,” Jisung finishes for him. “Technically nothing’s preventing him.”

“Oh my god,” Minho grins. “It’s like that meme. My milkshake brings all the boys to my yard.”

Jisung sucks in a sharp breath, sputtering as he tries to control his laughter. “Well,” he says, struggling to keep a monotone voice.

“Well,” Minho parrots, giggling a little and shuffling his feet on the doorstep. He and Jisung _just_ saw each other a couple days ago but he feels reluctant to part. And he senses that Jisung also feels the same.

“Try politely asking him to come back before I resort to any spells?” Jisung suggests, offering a wry grin.

“Okay,” Minho replies, and it does not escape his notice when Jisung continues standing there after he leaves with a ruminative expression on his face. He realizes that Jisung only disappears back into his house until he sees that Minho has returned to his own.

  
  
  


“I’m sorry,” Minho calls down barely five minutes later. “I didn’t expect _this_ to happen.”

Jisung stands on his patio below him, looking like he is simultaneously on the verge of breaking down and breaking out into hysterical laughter.

“I don’t know why—” _No, maybe I do know why—_ “I mean—just— help,” Minho settles on.

After Minho had gone back into his house he’d asked Lir to fly back to Jisung’s yard with as much of a stern voice as he could muster up. And Lir had done just that.

Except he had taken a passenger with him. Minho was caught unaware and the dragon swept him up onto its back a bit too eagerly, and then suddenly they were whooshing over the fence as Lir hovered over Jisung’s backyard and Minho dangled from the dragon’s neck, clinging on for his life.

That’s an item checked off for his nonexistent bucket list, Minho thinks—he always did want to experience the sunset while hanging dangerously high up from his neighbor’s dragon.

“Lir,” Jisung tries to sound serious, but a laugh escapes him. “Please,” he laughs again, bending over and clutching his legs for support. “Please just come down. Don’t terrorize the neighbor.”

Lir doesn’t, so Jisung goes in for The Move That Always Works—he reaches up and spreads his arms out, inviting Lir inside them for a hug.

Minho doesn’t call it The Move That Always Works for no reason; easily tempted by affection and the promise of a warm embrace, Lir slowly floats closer to the ground, using his wings to propel himself lower like a helicopter.

“Thank you,” Jisung says.

But a few feet away from the ground Lir changes tactics and goes for a fake-out. He decides to roll his neck to the side and Minho loses his hold, so instead of Lir it is Minho that goes tumbling right into Jisung’s open arms.

“That sneaky fucker,” Jisung hisses with no real bite—his words an exact echo of Minho’s own thoughts—as he wraps an arm around Minho’s back to steady his off-kilter movements. The tips of Jisung’s ears are red as he tries to level the dragon with a reprimanding scowl—except, of course, Lir has settled down and is sneakily facing the back fence, so Jisung can only glare at the dragon’s back.

“I didn’t expect…. I didn’t expect him to take me with him…” Minho can only get out as he starts laughing deliriously, still reeling from the situation and he doesn’t realize that Jisung hasn’t let go. “I must be really loved and wanted around here,” he finally gets out, placing his hands on Jisung’s shoulders to straighten himself up.

He can’t even be mad. Behind them, “that sneaky fucker” jumps into the pool once and then springs back out, creating his usual cold wet mess, but only warmth blooms in Minho’s chest.

“Um,” Jisung falters, drawing Minho’s attention back to him. Minho is barely thinking when he reaches up a hand to tenderly brush away the water droplets that had landed against the corner of Jisung’s eyes. Then realization of what he’s done reboots his brain into panic mode when those eyes widen and Jisung ducks his head down shyly and _oh no, oh nonononononono._ Minho’s heart pounds so loud he’s sure Lir can hear it across the yard. (Hell, maybe the dragon can—he does have awfully big ears, after all.) Jisung refuses to look at him, intently observing his toes.

“Sorry,” Minho immediately stammers out. “Did I-” he takes a deep breath. _Did I cross a boundary?_ Jisung peers back up at him, but one of his hands is _still_ pressed into the dip of Minho’s back and Minho has long since regained his balance, so… so… he starts short-circuiting again.

“I… you,” Minho tries a second time, failing spectacularly. “Sorry,” he babbles again. There’s a reason he became a dancer and not an orator, because in times like this the right words always seem to elude him.

And yet, Minho thinks, maybe this is the moment of truth. His heart has been a flammable match for so long that maybe it is time to light it up—set it afire and let the truth burn out of him now that the opportunity is presented to him lest he is caught unaware and it explodes.

It’s worth a shot. A wild, reckless striking of the match against the box:

“Uh, maybe Lir seems to keep initiating things like this because he figured out that... I like you?” he takes a deep breath. “I like you,” he says again, even though the surprised way Jisung is staring at him tells him that the witch heard him already the first time. “Anyway,” Minho continues, “Lir was already doing his goofy things before I realized that, so I don’t know, maybe it was just because he thought it was funny? I mean it’s still kind of funny except… now I’m pretty sure he knows what’s up… so yeah… um if I crossed a boundary though, I’m sorry. And we could also ask Lir to stop before he takes things too far? But just now, I thought… there might also be the chance that you…?” _like me back?_ Minho trails off before he can reach the end of his question.

… And that was one _flimsy_ match, because the fire is quickly burning out. His confession all sounds like one very big rambling uncertainty and Minho averts his eyes and drops his hands, backing away from Jisung.

 _You’ve done it now,_ he thinks. _Say goodbye to being a certified dragon parent and meet your new title, about-to-be-disowned dragon parent._

Five seconds of silence. Minho counts them in his head.

“Oh,” Jisung says five beats too late, hands falling as well now that they have nothing to grasp onto. “You—like me?” He sounds a mix of astonished and bewildered. “But… you hated me the first few times we met.”

Ah yes, the cursed memory of Minho being knocked unconscious. Minho really, really wishes he had a nice sturdy pair of dragon wings—what he’d give to just fly away right now.

But he raises an eyebrow instead, because he is a mature adult and confessions do not daunt him at all. “I never _hated_ you. I was just a bit scared at first,” he corrects. “And surely—after last weekend—I mean—did you forget about our group hug?” He somehow jokes, evenly meeting Jisung’s eyes, and thanks all the nonexistent magic in the air that his voice doesn’t wobble. “All that was over a year ago, and things have definitely changed a lot.”

He averts his eyes. Three more beats of silence pass.

Then Jisung takes a step toward him. “That’s true,” he says quietly. Minho dares to look back at him and sees that Jisung has on the softest, most reassuring smile ever. It’s like that private smile he reserves for Lir when he thinks nobody’s looking, except the fondness bursting at its seams is almost tenfold and it is paired with special starry-eyes that are certainly only for Minho.

It is at that moment that the massive whirlpool growing in Minho’s chest disappears and his heartbeat becomes a mushy pounding mess of turbulent waves instead.

Jisung casts the briefest glance toward Lir—the perpetrator of this entire situation—who is still determinedly having a staring contest with the wooden planks of the back fence.

Then he turns back to Minho, a brimming mouthful of teeth slowly overtaking his face. It is beautiful.

“That is very true,” Jisung repeats, loud and certain this time, taking another step closer. “I like you too,” he finally says, wide grin turning bashful (but this is not any less beautiful) and Minho commits the sound of those words to his heart.

“And just a thought—” Jisung steps closer, tiptoes and whispers it right into Minho’s ears, “I believe Lir started this because of me, not you, anyway.” Jisung’s voice is low and conspiratorial and it is quite possibly the best secret to have ever been divulged to him.

“That’s good.” Minho’s brain is beyond functional at this point when Jisung leans back to regard him with that intoxicatingly bright smile. “So… that means you liked me… first?” The voice in his head is clapping slowly and mockingly at him.

Jisung emits a small, jittery laugh. “Maybe. So… is Lir the dumb one or are we the dumbasses here?”

Minho snorts, allowing some of the tension to leave his body. He takes his own tentative step forward this time, and then in a sudden bout of courage takes Jisung’s hands in his own. They are warm and perfect and everything about Jisung is perfect in the glow of the setting sun. “Jisung, Jisung, Jisung,” Minho cherishes the name each time it leaves his tongue. “Do you know what I see in your eyes?”

“What?” Jisung barely whispers out.

Minho takes a deep breath, then goes in for the killer blow. “I see you going all soft and mushy,” he announces.

The dazzled smile on Jisung’s face turns to an open mouth of disbelief and he makes a move to pull his hands away, but even though Minho’s grip is escapable Jisung gives in and stays put. Minho brings their hands closer to his chest and tangles their fingers together. He finally grins—beaming and genuine, and he thinks absolutely nothing is going to stop it.

“I can’t believe you still remember that,” Jisung indignantly replies. ( _Cute,_ Minho thinks) “Why did we have to relive that!”

“There are three hearts beating in this backyard right now,” Minho says very seriously. “And, to be honest, I think we know that they are all very soft and mushy. But—one of them belongs to a schemer whom I am going to give no satisfaction to.”

Hands still intertwined with Jisung’s, he tugs them to the side of the house, out of view of the said scheming dragon. Even if that dragon is still facing the fence, he has also been there to witness the past five minutes as well as every other horribly obvious time he’s tried to set them up, and for _once_ Minho wants it to just be him and Jisung.

“So… um,” Jisung starts, swinging their hands. His teeth timidly tug on his lower lip and Minho follows the movement, spellbound.

They _did_ just confess, right? Might as well throw all his inhibitions out the window.

“I really really want to kiss you,” Minho breathlessly says, searching Jisung’s eyes. “... Can I?”

“Yes,” Jisung finishes, sparkling eyes darting down to Minho’s lips before looking back up and giving him a shy but vigorous nod. They are close enough that Minho can already smell those treasured magical ingredients—lavender, mint, and maybe just a little bit of pool water. He finally untangles their fingers and Jisung is actually the one who moves first, bringing his hands up to cradle Minho's face. And then he leans forward, tilting his head to the side, and Minho feels the softest touch against his mouth.

So possibly Minho may not need his own set of dragon wings after all, because even just that slight brush of Jisung’s lips against his makes him feel so light-headed and Minho thinks that this is about as close to flying as it gets.

Minho loops a hand around Jisung’s waist and the other over his shoulder to pull him even closer, and Jisung’s lips part willingly against his and it is pure, weightless, bliss.

Jisung kisses with his whole body, crowding Minho into the wall until he feels warm all over, and he kisses Minho the same way he defends those closest to him—fiercely and passionately, heart unashamedly displayed on his sleeve for the whole world to see.

And here, it is quite possible that Jisung’s whole world is Minho, which he makes known by the way he maps out every part of Minho’s mouth, and then some. Jisung’s tongue curiously pressed against his, his nose bumping Minho’s once and it causes them to grin—which leads to Jisung planting light kisses against the corners of Minho’s smile and then even more down his neck and Minho doesn’t mind when all of his thoughts turn into a bursting river of only Jisung, Jisung, _Jisung._

“I just want to say this,” Jisung suddenly says, clutching the fabric of Minho’s shoulder-sleeves as he leans back slightly. The sun has dipped beneath the house to set it in a darker shade, but Jisung’s cheeks are still visibly red and his hair is as disheveled as the first time Minho met him, standing on his doorstep and hiding his mischievous dragon under the pretense of having a pet dog.

Jisung fixes his eyes on Minho’s, speaking earnestly. “You… that first time I asked you to watch over Lir, I wasn’t expecting much. But then I came back and I saw you and Lir floating so peacefully in the pool and then… the more you came over the more he took a liking to you. And it turns out that you are so great with Lir, so from the start...” he says, and then Jisung is crumbling into his arms and Minho pulls him into a crushing hug.

“From the start I knew I never stood a chance,” Jisung mumbles into Minho’s shoulder, lips ghosting the back of his neck.

Maybe it wasn’t from the start, but at some point Minho knew he was also a goner. Maybe he doesn’t need to say it out loud for Jisung to know, either, as they stand there and Minho rubs circles into his back and feels the curve of his lips smiling serenely into his neck.

And then, of course, a low whine interrupts them.

“Lir,” Minho says, hands still wrapped around Jisung as he stares down the dragon. “Did it ever occur to you that we didn’t want to do this right in the middle of the backyard for a reason?”

Jisung giggles, the sound tinkling like glittery bells in Minho’s ears. Because they both knew that there was only so long before the dragon once again made it clear that he was an unavoidable addition to their party.

“Group hug?” Jisung relents, meeting Minho’s twinkling eyes.

 _Yes,_ is what Minho pretends Lir says, as the dragon comes bounding into both of their open arms.

  
  
  
  


**epilogue**

_-one year ago-_

Lir grins to himself, feeling oh-so-proud. Water is steadily dripping off his back and creating a sparkly puddle on the floor.

Jisung had forgetfully left the back door open, and now he is inside, free to finally explore the new house. Victoriously, he clambers around the kitchen as he sniffs out all the hidden treats—payback for all the times Jisung closed the sandbox lid on him and told him _no more fish._

“Lir!” Jisung has come out of his room at the commotion, standing confused and crestfallen in the hallway. “Oh no… did I leave the door open?”

 _Yes you did,_ Lir thinks, slapping his tail against the ceramic floor.

“C’mon, we can negotiate a deal, right?” Jisung bargains. Lir lazily inspects his claws, pretending not to hear him.

“Lirrrrr,” Jisung whines.

Lir swings his tail—oops, he thinks he whacked a bowl off one of the counters. At the sound of porcelain shattering, Jisung runs a hand messily through his hair and looks like he wants to cry. _Whoops! You went too far,_ Lir reprimands himself.

But before he can properly escort himself back out, the doorbell rings. _Oooh, visitors!_ His ears perk up.

“Don’t do anything weird,” Jisung warns him, heading for the door. Lir snorts, because as if.

“Uh… hello, how can I help you?” he hears Jisung say a few seconds later.

“Hi,” comes a new, polite voice. “I’m Lee Minho, your new next-door neighbor.”

 _New neighbor,_ Lir excitedly thinks.

“Oh!” Jisung exclaims.

Lir thinks his tail hits something fragile again. Maybe he should really leave, but he wants to hear this conversation.

“Uh, sorry about that,” Jisung replies “You know how pets are sometimes.”

 _Pfft, pets,_ Lir thinks. _Sure. You tell yourself that. I’m a pet._

“I’m Han Jisung—nice to meet you.”

“Big dog?” comes the voice on the other side. Lir titters. Any dog would be no match for a mighty and impressive dragon.

“Uh… yeah!” Jisung says. _Don’t ruin the cover up that was presented to you,_ Lir thinks. “I’m really sorry, but if you couldn’t tell, now’s not the best time. Lir isn’t in a good mood,”

That is also a lie. Lir is in a very good mood. He managed to finally sneak into the house and he also learned that their new neighbor thinks he is a dog, which highly amuses him.

“Thank you so much though, these smell really good,” Jisung finishes.

 _Oh, Food!_ The thought momentarily distracts him. He catches a glimpse of the plate Jisung takes and thinks that he is definitely going to make sure he gets some of those sweet smelling round things, whatever they are. He makes a bolt for the door, before realizing that now is not the time and scrabbles back to the kitchen.

“That’s okay, feel free to ask me if you have any questions! I’ve been living here for a couple years so I like to think I know this area pretty well,” the neighbor replies.

The conversation continues for another minute, then Jisung comes walking back in, holding the sweet round things. He thinks they are called muffins. Doesn’t matter. He wants some.

Jisung glowers at him. “Go back outside.” He looks sadly at the puddles Lir has created, even though Lir did him a favor by helping wash his floor in pool water.

Still, Lir steps back out into the yard, giving Jisung his most pleading eyes until the witch reluctantly holds out the plate. Then he makes a grab for the food and manages to triumphantly snag one of the muffins in his mouth.

“Lir, what am I gonna do,” Jisung tells him, sinking into one of the lawn chairs. “My neighbor’s so attractive.” He takes a bite of one of the muffins for himself. “And he bakes well.”

 _Interesting,_ Lir notes.

And then he gets a really, really good idea. And devises a really, really good plan.

 _Just leave it to me,_ he thinks, and deviously reaches forward to sink his jaws into another muffin.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once you dragIN you can’t drag-out 🐉 … ahaha… i shall excuse myself through the _back door_
> 
> bad jokes aside, i had probably way too much fun writing this... so hopefully you enjoyed reading it just as much—kudos and comments will be treasured forever ;-;; 
> 
> and as usual thank you for reading! hopefully this made your day just a teensy bit brighter and i hope the rest of your day/night goes smoothly as well :DD
> 
> 🌊 [twitter](https://twitter.com/in_a_rabbithole)  
> 🌊 [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/glissandos)


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